The Unsinkable Brain
by SylviaW1991
Summary: Brain decides to use the mighty Titanic in his latest scheme for world domination and, as always, Pinky follows. But neither mouse is aware of the tragic fate of the ship only four days into their journey... gradual P/B; parody of James Cameron film
1. Chapter 1

So skimmingsurfaces and I have created a little crossover of sorts~

Pinky and the Brain board the TITANIC!

And, in typical PatB fashion, we spoofed a little bit of modern culture by incorporating elements of James Cameron's _Titanic_

And it _is_ finished, but super long, so expect a chapter to be thrown up every day or so!

ENJOY!

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><p>The year was 1912 and two mice stood on the docks of Southhampton, England in anticipation of boarding the massive RMS <em>Titantic<em>. One mouse, the shorter of the two, lowered his binoculars and gave a small smile, his pink eyes betraying the glee he felt. His plan was _perfect_! They would commandeer the mighty ship, this aptly name titan of the seas, and use it to further his goal of taking over the world!

"There it is, Pinky. The mighty _Titanic_. They key to my plan for world conquest!"

Pinky dug a finger into his ear, gazing in awe at the _Olympic_-class ocean liner. 882 feet long, 175 feet tall, and 46,328 tons - it was the biggest ship of its kind and it was leaving that very day for New York. "Naaaarf! It must be a really big lock, Brain!"

Brain only twitched, in too good a mood to let his associate's ridiculous behavior bother him overmuch. "Indeed. Now we need only secure passage before the vessel sets sail. Come, Pinky." He leapt off the coil of rope they'd been standing upon and started off.

Pinky followed, fiddling with the cuffs of the suit coat he'd been instructed to wear for the occasion, as he gaped at all the fancily dressed people boarding the ship. He paused to admire a lovely dress, rose-colored with a flower cinching it around the middle, but was dragged away by his necktie when Brain took note of his meandering. The shorter mouse also dressed smartly, the crowd aboard the ship with which he'd be mingling with required such a state of dress.

The journey to the boarding dock had been slightly perilous, the two mice narrowly avoided getting squashed by loads of baggage and squished by the hoards of passengers. As they arrived before the majestic ship, Brain rubbed his paws together before turning to his associate. Pinky could've been catching flies with the way his mouth hung open in awe of the steel giant. A quick bop to the head solved this.

"Pinky, the tickets." Brain commanded, holding out his hand expectantly. He required his own pockets to be filled with necessary information to assist him in commandeering the ship, so he'd trusted the taller mouse with the vital slips of paper.

"Hmm?" Pinky whipped his head around to focus on Brain, his attention still wandering. "Gee, Brain, how does a big metal thingamadoo stay afloat on the water like that?"

"I'd explain it to you, but the ship would be from New York and back before you managed to grasp the complexities of displacement. Now, please, Pinky, the tickets!"

Pinky scratched the top of his head as he tilted it to one side. "Tickets to what? Poit."

Brain's hands curled into fists and his face contorted, a growl escaping for a moment before he was able to battle back the urge to do something violent. He straightened his bowtie instead. "_What_ are we here for, Pinky?" His companion opened his mouth to respond, but Brain quickly cut him off, fearing more inanity. "The _Titanic_! We need those tickets in order to board."

"Well there's plenty of boards over here we can use." Pinky gestured to the other end of the dock where a stack of wooden planks sat. "I don't see why we need to waste tickets on them. We can go to a lovely dinner theatre instead! _Narf!_"

That was enough. Brain leapt up, crashing his fist down hard upon his associate's head. And when Pinky's legs gave out and he started to laugh, Brain dug into the taller mouse's coat in search of the tickets. "One simple task, Pinky... You had one task."

Pinky squirmed as his pockets were plundered, his laughter not petering out. "Oh, are you looking for those little slips of paper? You should've said so, Brain!" He reached into his coat and pulled out one slightly crinkled ticket, but it's twin was not as fortunate. It had been folded into an oddly shaped bird. "Here you go!" With a pleased smile, Pinky handed over the tickets to the acclaimed ship.

Brain stared at the unfortunate origami attempt before snatching both from Pinky's grasp and jerkily unfolding the "bird." At least this one had what could loosely be called wings. "I see you've been practicing," was as close as he would come to a compliment. "Now come, Pinky. We'll want to make sure our quarters are suitable for the journey." His lips twitched as he imagined ending the journey in the captain's quarters. One step closer to ruling the world!

Pinky giggled as he followed his friend, taking notice of Brain's improved mood. "Good thing I polished mine before we left! I also did the nickels and dimes too! _Troz_! Nice and shiny!"

"Well, let's hope the _pennies_ didn't feel left out," Brain muttered and straightened his coat as they approached the growing line to board the mighty vessel.

With an overly dramatic gasp, Pinky clapped both hands to his face. "I _knew_ I forgot something!" He spun around as if to dash off in search of his pennies, but the sharp tug on his tail prevented him from going anywhere. "But Brain! The pennies!" They moved forward in the line, more people cramming in behind them. Pinky's ears wilted, there was no way he could get through the throng of people now. "Poit..."

"Enough, Pinky, there are more important things to consider! More than mere pennies await us, my friend." His back straightened, eyes gleaming. "You and I are on the very cusp of world domination!"

Perking up at this reassurance, Pinky turned around to face the ship once more. "How will this boat help us do that, Brain?"

Brain glared up at his companion. "I've explained this to you several times, Pinky." Though he knew from experience that he would probably have to explain several more times. "You and I shall map this unsinkable ship from bow to stern in order to create blueprints that will allow us to duplicate this grand vessel a hundred times over! Then we shall position our mighty fleet at the optimum positions in order to overwhelm the world's navies. With waterways locked and under our control, it will be a simple matter to _take over the world_!" His excitement had grown during the explanation and, with the last triumphant exclamation, he rose to his toes and lifted his fists.

In tandem with the shorter mouse, Pinky's enthusiasm shot up and he clapped his hands together once Brain finished his spiel. "Egad, Brain, brilliant!" Hopping from foot to foot, he thought for sure Brain had a winning plan! Except... "Oh no, no. That won't work. How will you steer all the big boats by yourself?" Holding his index finger and thumb together in front of his eye, he squinted. "You're so little. Well, except for your head. Poit."

More deflated by the flaw than he was insulted by the adjective - though the head comment earned a small glare - Brain dropped back to the flats of his feet and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I suppose I'll have to invent auto-pilot." He waved a hand, dismissing the subject for the time being. They had reached the front of the line, so Brain whipped out the tickets and offered them.

"Lord Brain of Lumpfordchestershire?" the man asked, looking from the name on the ticket to the rather small, albino man.

Brain straightened, adjusting his lapels minutely. "Yes. And this is my..." Brain trailed off, watching Pinky dig in his ear. He'd been considering granting him the title of duke, but that was now absolutely out of the question. "My manservant, Pinkerton."

Pinky's eyes widened at the title, obviously the title unknown to him, for he took great pride in it. After clasping his hands under his chin and shooting The Brain a grateful look, he stood straight. Head held high and tail at attention. "_Narf!_" If he got to be Brain's man-thingie, he would do his best! Though the name he got sounded sort of silly, he was used to their silly names by now.

The steward glanced at Pinky, baffled by the exclamation no doubt, but allowed the pair passage. "Welcome aboard the RMS_ Titanic_, Lord Brain and escort."

"Yes!" Brain exclaimed and started up the wooden ramp that would take them to the deck of the ship. Though he did take notice when the steward handed Pinky some papers. Their room assignment, no doubt.

Sticking his tongue out the side of his mouth, Pinky twisted the papers about at odd angles. Blue eyes squinted as they roved over the print, then grew wide as he looked from document to document. "Brain! _Brain!_" He darted up the ramp after him, waving the papers about madly. "I think they made a mistake! _Narf! _ They put us in two different rooms, Brain! We'll have to tell them to change it!" He grabbed onto Brain's suitcoat and tugged several times, to emphasize his concern over the matter.

"Pinky, stop it! You'll ruin these clothes!" He jerked away from the mouse, alighting on the deck. He gazed at those already on board, eyes gleaming. The maiden voyage of such a splendid ship was cause for much fanfare among the general populace. It was _perfect_!

Pinky's distress only continued to mount, no longer interested in the extravagant outfits and the interesting crowd they were mingling with. He wrung the papers between his paws, glancing down at them again to make sure he wasn't just imagining it. While counting wasn't his strong suit, Pinky certainly knew that the numbers for his and Brain's room did not match up at all. He reached out once more, but remembered Brain's words, so he retracted his hand and instead tried to step in his field of vision.

He held up the papers so Brain could see them, poking his head around them. "But Brain! The rooms! They're not the same!"

Brain rolled his eyes, snatching the pages away to study them himself and prove Pinky wrong. His scowl faded, though, as he noted that his simple-minded friend was surprisingly _right_. They weren't even on the same level of the ship! That certainly put a hitch in his plans. "Hm. You would appear to be correct, Pinky. It seems we shan't be rooming together on this trip."

Wringing his paws together, Pinky nodded, relieved that Brain finally saw this awful mistake. But clearly they could fix it now. The Brain could fix anything! "Well, we'll just have to go tell the ship people to fix it then, won't we?" He straightened up, looking around to see if he could spot anyone who could assist them. Cupping his hands around his mouth, he hollered, "Hello? Who works for this boat?"

He received several odd glances in exchange, followed by the haughty upturns of the members of the upperclass' noses. Indignantly, Pinky placed his hands on his hips. "Well, same to you!"

The Brain quickly latched onto Pinky's necktie, dragging him down so they were eye-to-eye. "Quiet, Pinky! We can't simply tell someone to change this! It's a final decision thanks to those immigration laws!" He tugged sharply on the tie and it snapped up, smacking Pinky right in the face.

Brain stepped back, scanning the pages. "You, my friend, have been designated as a third class citizen, seeing that you are my manservant." He folded the pages, tucking them under his arm for the time being. "We'll merely have to find a way to work around this inconvenience. It may add a day or two to the schedule."

"But if I'm yours, shouldn't I get to sleep with you?" Pinky inquired, tapping his chin thoughtfully as he glanced skyward before turning his curious blue eyes on Brain.

The suggestiveness of the words went over Brain's head entirely as he began re-calculating his plans based on these unfortunate room assignments. "No, Pinky. Immigration laws are strictly enforced on ships such as this or we could all end up quarantined for forty days. Such a delay is not only expensive, but damaging to a company's reputation! Therefore, until I manage to commandeer this ship, you will be in your room and I will be in mine."

Ears drooped and shoulders slumped, Pinky's expression went completely downtrodden as his eyes filled up with tears. Not one for containing his emotions, Pinky began to wail, clutching at Brain with no regard for his fine clothes. "But, Brain, I don't want to sleep in my room! I want to sleep in yours!"

Since his eyes were squeezed shut so he could properly cry, he paid no notice to the gathering of on-lookers who seemed appalled and intrigued by this display between two (rather short) males. Pinky just tried to bury his face in Brain's chest, hunched over since his height made it difficult otherwise.

"Stop it, Pinky! Stop it!" Brain hissed, trying to shove Pinky away. He'd noticed the drawn gazes and this was certainly not the attention he'd been aiming to get. The future ruler of the world couldn't be seen getting cried on by his manservant!

Pinky's grip was tight however, attached to Brain like some kind of overgrown white, furry leech. Sniffling, Pinky blinked up at Brain. "But I can't sleep well without you, Brain! The bed will be soooo lonely!"

Getting cried on by his extremely _suggestive _manservant, Brain realized with some horror. Color flooded his cheeks and he wriggled desperately. "It'll only be for a few days," he snapped, trying to keep his voice quiet. "Now let go!"

With a restrained whimper, Pinky obeyed, still sniffling and red-eyed from crying. "W-will you still ask me if I'm p-p-pondering what you're pondering?"

He slapped a hand to his brow, wiping it down his face to distract himself from the mortification. "Pinky, I'll still _see_ you fairly regularly. We have a plan to implement."

Pinky blinked at Brain uncomprehendingly. He understood the "see" just fine, but the rest of it went over his head. "...Is that a maybe?"

"It's a _yes_, you feeble-minded boob." Brain fixed his suit, scowling darkly. This was _not_ the first impression he'd been hoping to make. When the book of his accomplishments was published, this scene would most certainly be overlooked. "Now come along, Pinky. We'll take a cursory tour while everyone's distracted by the festivities."


	2. Chapter 2

Blurfedy blurf blurf. Stupid ff and it's log-in issue things. ANNOYING D:

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><p>First class, Brain quickly discovered, was the only way to travel. The <em>Titanic<em> boasted a dining saloon, a reception room, a restaurant, lounge, reading and writing room, a smoking room and veranda cafes, a pool, a gym and a squash court... And several Turkish and electric baths. He'd strolled through all excepting the gym and squash court. Anything called "squash" was well-avoided, in his opinion.

He'd made rounds through the lounge, making nice with the wealthy and uppercrust, exaggerating his own accomplishments where necessary, all the while mapping out the layout in his head to be written down upon returning to his rooms. He found himself paying high attention to so many things that he was exhausted by the end of the day and they'd only gone from Southampton to Cherbourg (after a thirty-minute delay thanks to the SS _New York_).

But, still, he diligently mapped out what he'd been able to see of the ship thus far, including the brief tour he and Pinky had taken earlier, before dousing the light and turning in. Even his quarters were luxurious - a private suite. Excellent. It provided him just the privacy he needed, as well as a blessed relief from his cagemate.

An hour later, the blessed relief had turned into sheer frustration. He'd wriggled beneath the pillow, beneath the blankets without the pillow entirely, curled up _on_ the pillow with the blanket as well as without. With a quiet growl, he kicked the bedsheets off himself once again and sat up, folding his arms over his chest and pouting. He couldn't get comfortable. It had to be the unfamiliar surroundings. He refused to entertain the thought that it could be possible be the lack of Pinky that was disrupting his sleep.

Though... perhaps it would behoove him to pay a visit to his wayward sidekick. If only to see if he'd actually _learned_ something since the ship had taken off and the classes separated to their proper levels. At the very least, Pinky would probably be distressed. Heaven only knew what disruption he may cause while distressed. It was clearly to The Brain's advantage to go and see Pinky just to make sure he wasn't drawing any undue attention to himself, of course.

Decision made, Brain leapt from the bed and ran to the end of the bed to locate the room assignment papers. He threw on his hat and his suitjacket, not bother with the rest for now. The barest essentials would be needed for a visit to the Lower Deck. Room number memorized, Brain leapt from the bed and started on his way.

-8-8-

Pinky had been relieved to find that he did not have to sleep alone after all. He shared his room with three other rather pleasant people, although each had their own bed. A German fellow, a friendly Italian, Fabreeze he believed his name was, and a rather handsome America named Jake. He bunked with him, and the two hit it off right away when they discovered their shared affinity in drawing and painting, although Pinky had to admit Jake was much more skilled than he. Jake was so nice about it though! He just said all Pinky needed to do was practice and he'd be a legend in no time!

During the waking hours he'd been quite jolly. Getting to know his roommates, learning new card games, exploring the ship, and such had all been fun-fun silly-willy. And the broth they'd been served for dinner was absolutely divine! Though afterwards Jake told him it had just been dirty dishwater that he accidentally drank, it was still the finest dishwater he'd ever had the pleasure of consuming!

Then night arrived, rocking the passengers aboard the Titanic to sleep. It was when the wind and the waves clamored for attention by making the steel structure groan restlessly that Pinky tossed and turned on the expansive pillow, all too aware of the emptiness beside him.

"Pinky!" Brain hissed, a slip away from tumbling entirely off the bed. Why his associate had selected the _top_ bunk when he was a _mouse_ was beyond him, just as his own decision to climb up there was. It was clearly the lack of sleep. It was affecting him negatively.

Pinky's ears twitched at the familiar voice as his whole body shot upright. "Brain!" He exclaimed in a hushed voice, considerate of his slumbering companions. "Brain, is that you?" Poking his head over the edge of the bunk bed, he beamed as he took sight of his friend scaling the frame. He reached out a paw to help him out.

"Clearly." Brain considered for a moment before hesitantly removing one hand from the simple teak panelling to grasp Pinky's. He saved his complaints for when he'd been dragged up and was able to sit upon the pillow. Then he began brushing himself off, scowling irritably. "What on earth are you doing all the way up here?"

Clasping his paws together and swaying, Pinky had to hold himself back from enveloping The Brain in a tight hug. He'd wait for him to finish dusting himself off first. "Jake wanted the bottom bunk, and I don't mind being up here! Narf! And it means I'm closer to you!" He pointed at the ceiling, awfully close, but being mice it presented no real issue. Pinky lowered his hand. "Aren't you supposed to be up there, Brain? Didn't you say we'd be turpentined if the classes mangled?"

The idea that sleeping on the top bunk had brought them closer together was charming in its simplistic honesty. Brain stopped brushing himself off to slant a look at his associate and decided to avoid addressing the statement lest he get needlessly emotional. "It's quarantined, Pinky. And, yes, I should be up there but I decided to... see how you were faring. As long as you tell no one that I was here, we'll be fine."

"Your secret's safe with me, Brain! _Troz!_" Pinky made the 'zipping' motion across his lips and crossed his heart for good measure. Plopping back down on his pillow, he pat the space next to him for Brain to join him. "How was the rest of your day, Brain?"

The shorter mouse followed, removing his jacket and folding it carefully. Now that he was there, he decided, the trek back to his own rooms would be almost frivolous. "It was very educational, Pinky. I have yet to make any specific measurements, but that can wait for after sketching out a full layout of the ship. And, at this rate, I'll have the first class accommodations finished by tomorrow night." He peered up at Pinky, removing his hat. "And just what have you occupied yourself with?"

Grabbing onto his feet, Pinky rocked back and forth, both actively and as a result of the rolling ocean. "Egad, Brain, brilliant!" He declared quietly, still conscious of the others resting. "Oh, I did lots of fun-fun silly-willy things! I made lots of new friends and got to run around the ship! And then, after dinner, there was dancing and music! It was super!" He threw his arms out wide, then flopped backwards so he was splayed out on the pillow. Propping himself on his elbows, he scrunched his face up as he thought of something else. "And I tried this strange drink. But it tasted funny and made my throat burn, I don't think I like that drink, Brain. The food was very nice though. Poit." Satisfied with his retelling of his day, and realizing how tired he was now that Brain was here with him, he laid back down and rolled over to face him.

Brain settled himself beside his friend, considering. Pinky had certainly not learned anything of value, but that wasn't any sort of surprise. "The next time you're offered a drink like that, Pinky, you are to say no. You're not nearly old enough for its consumption." Besides, he highly doubted that the world would ever be prepared for a drunken Pinky. "Now go to sleep. We must both be up early if I'm to leave here unseen."

Pinky nodded sleepily. He hadn't liked it much anyway. Snuggling up to Brain, he closed his eyes and yawned. "Okay. Goodnight, Brain."

Brain didn't push him away, eyes closing more of their own accord. Odd that Pinky's third class pillow was more comfortable than his first class one. He reached up a hand to pat his head, ended up leaving it. "Goodnight, Pinky."

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><p>:D CUTE.<p>

And, well, it's shown in the series more than once that when they do sleep, they're generally right next to one another

Also. A drunk Pinky? Why not a drunk... Brain? FORESHADOWING

lol, not really XD

Maybe

You'll see


	3. Chapter 3

The rattling of the bed awoke Brain, but his mental capacities always took longer than the rest of him to awaken, so the instinct to hide didn't kick in; the instinct to roll closer to Pinky did. If their cage was being moved again, he'd be extremely irritated. They always had to rearrange everything that fell over when that happened.

Pinky on the other hand blinked the sleep out of his eyes, rubbing at one with his free hand, his other arm was pinned beneath Brain. Upon seeing his friend still with him, he smiled brightly until the top of Jake's head came into view as he stood from the bottom bunk. He vaguely remembered Brain saying he didn't want anyone to see him down here, so Pinky scrambled to pull the blankets completely over Brain, pushing down on his head to make it look less lumpy.

"'Morning, Pinky." Jake greeted as he rolled his neck and shoulders to banish the stiffness.

"Good morning, Jake! Narf!" Pinky replied, chipper, but still nervous and he accidentally pushed a little too hard on Brain in his efforts to be nonchalant.

"Ow!" Brain swatted at his hands. "Pinky, stop it!" He sat up, tugging the blankets off his head and glaring furiously. "What on _earth_ are you doing?"

"Oops. Poit." Pinky bit down on his finger, his eyes darting from Brain to Jake. "Sorry, Brain! It's just, umm... this is my friend I was telling you about, Jake! The Brain!" Pinky made a sweeping gesture to the mouse beside him, grinning sheepishly up at the human who had appeared surprised at first, but it didn't last long once Pinky introduced him. The little mouse practically talked nonstop about his best friend. "Brain, this is Jake. _Narf!_"

Brain blinked at Pinky before whipping his head around to take in the human. He smacked his forehead, muttering words under his breath that Pinky had been instructed never to use. Normally, Brain didn't reduce himself to them either, but this seemed to be a special occasion. Not an entire day into their journey and the plan was ruined. "Wonderful."

Pinky's ears wilted as Brain muttered, expecting a bop of some kind to follow suit. Or so he hoped, then that meant he hadn't done something too bad. "We're not going to be tangerined now, are we, Brain?"

"_Quarantined_, Pinky. Try and think of quarters." He rubbed his brow hard, trying to think. Perhaps, being of third class, he would also be fairly dim. With any sort of luck, they could possibly convince this human that his presence was a dream or an illusion of some sort. But how were they going to do _that_? He didn't have any sort of equipment handy to make Jake believe he was dreaming or even to knock him unconscious. His gaze roved the bed. He had a hat and a suitjacket... and Pinky. They were doomed.

"Hey, it's not like I'm gonna tell anybody." Jake grinned, looking between the two mice. He held out a hand to The Brain. "Nice to meet you, Pinky's told me a lot about you."

Pinky smiled back, relieved that his new friend didn't seem too concerned with Brain's presence. If Jake kept the secret too, then nothing would go wrong! "Now we can all be friends!" He cheered, clamping his mouth shut as the other two roommates shifted in their sleep. "Naaaaarf."

Brain shook Jake's hand hesitantly, trying not to scowl too deeply at him. Becoming _friends_ was unlikely, but if Jake kept the secret perhaps he could be... the new prince of Wales or something once The Brain ruled the world. For now, however, spooked by the rustling of the other two humans, he quickly reached for his jacket and began pulling it on. "I'm sure Pinky's told you a lot about several subjects." Most of which were probably nonsense. He slapped on his hat, scowl returning full-force. He'd been _caught_ sleeping with Pinky. Humiliating.

"Yes, I have!" Pinky laughed, though it tapered off as he observed Brain's scowl. "Oh, Brain, don't be all grumbly! I haven't said anything I wasn't supposed to!" He paused for a second. "I think." He didn't want Brain to leave all upset and angry, then he might never come back and stay the night with him! Waiting until Jake had moved away to get ready to head out for breakfast, Pinky turned to Brain and laced his fingers together. "Please don't be mad, Brain."

Brain wrapped a hand around Pinky's snout, tugging him down so they were eye-to-eye. "Just make sure that human doesn't mention my presence to anyone." He released his friend, getting to his feet and adjusting the coat properly. "And make sure you don't exhaust yourself before tonight."

Pinky rubbed his nose, nodding exuberantly. "Right, Brain! Jake will keep our secret! Right, Jake?"

The young human glanced over as he shrugged on his coat, smirking. "Not a word. It's not that often you find members of the uppercrust mingling with us common folk."

Beaming at the reassurance, Pinky turned back to Brain. "See?" He grabbed his own coat and struggled to put it on as he moved towards the edge of the bed. "Oh, and what're we gonna do tonight, Brain?"

Eyes rolling, Brain tugged Pinky back to help him into the jacket. He'd grown entirely too used to dresses, it seemed. It irritated him that he had to stand on his toes to reach Pinky's shoulders, but even that couldn't quite overwhelm his glee as he considered the ramifications of their plan. "We're going to continue our plot to take over the world!" His voice was quiet, wary of awakening Pinky's bunkmates or allowing Jake to overhear, but packed with his usual passion for that particular subject.

He swung off the edge of the bed to climb down the side. "I'll return later tonight, Pinky." He shot the mouse a sharp glare, just to make sure Pinky knew he meant this next order. "Behave yourself."

Pinky followed him down the bedpost, a little less excited now that Brain was leaving. "I promise, Brain!" He saluted with the wrong hand, then held his arms out towards the shorter mouse, as if awaiting a hug goodbye.

Brain blushed furiously, taking note of the smirk still blatant on Jake's face. Impudent American. He was no longer worthy to be prince of anything, secret-keeper or not. "I'm not..." He started to rub his head, but rather abruptly realized that he'd released his hold of the bed. "Oh, no," he muttered and plummeted to the floor, bouncing once and landing hard on his head. "This is a pain that will linger..."

Wincing at Brain's rough landing, Pinky went to go help him up. "At least your squishy-big-bouncy head broke your fall! _Zort!_"

Brain held a hand to his head, watching several Pinky's swirling in his line of sight. "Pinky, if there were fewer of you, I'd give you a lesson on the word 'broke.'" He shook himself to correct his vision and plucked his hat up off the ground. With a flick of his wrist, it popped back into its normal shape and was settled atop his head once more.

Pinky looked around him, but he didn't see anyone else, let alone another one of him. Shrugging it off, he decided to initiate the hug goodbye. It was only proper since they wouldn't see each other for the whole day again, and that was an awfully long time. He squeezed Brain tightly. "Be careful not to get yourself wolverined! I'll miss you!" He rocked them from side to side, oblivious to Jake's shoulders shaking in silent chuckles as he glanced away to offer them some semblance of privacy.

"Pinky, put me down! This is entirely inappropriate!" He hadn't missed Jake's laughter and it was just as distressing as his current lack of fresh oxygen.

"'Kay!" Pinky released him abruptly, satisfied with hug he'd gotten. Or gave, rather. Pinky didn't tend to be on the receiving end all that often. "Where will I meet you, Brain?"

Brain brushed off his sleeves. "I'll meet you in here, Pinky." His own smirk was donned. "I've been invited to dine with the Baker's."

Jake raised an eyebrow at this, but said nothing as Pinky nodded in understanding. "Ooh, sounds fun, Brain! Save me some hotcross buns, would you? Or a cheese danish! Yummy!"

"I don't think he means that kind of baker, Pinky." Jake interjected, catching the mouse's attention.

"Well, what other kind of bakers are there? Poit." Pinky scratched the top of his head as he puzzled this.

"That isn't important, Pinky." His other two bunkmates were entirely too active for his liking. "They're just very important people who need to be impressed." He patted Pinky's arm and headed towards the door. "Farewell, old friend. I'll see you tonight."

Pinky sniffled, goodbyes always made him teary, just like family reunions. "Bye Brain." He waved, then sighed when the door closed behind him.

He glanced up when Jake held out his hand to him, letting him climb up to ride on his shoulder as they headed to breakfast. "You interested in accompanying me to dinner tonight, Pinky? I've been invited by a Miss Tulip DeWhite Baker and I think you two should meet."

Pinky perked up immediately, smiling brightly as his tail began to wag in earnest. "Oh, yes, please! _Narf!_"

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><p>skimmingsurfaces's AN (stolen from her dA account, lol):<p>

Pinky and Brain are making progress in their plan aboard the Titanic! At least Brain is.  
>Pinky's making progress of his own though, I suppose ^^<p>

Jake's a shipper. Officially. He gets what's _really _going on.

Gee, I wonder who Miss Tulip could be...  
>And what exactly does Jake have up his sleeve? Hmmmm... I have a feeling Brain's not going to like it all that much xD<br>Keep reading to find out!


	4. Chapter 4

The Brain was very nearly late for his dinner engagement, thanks to a stint spent in a broom closet while exploring the Boat Deck. Employees only, indeed. Since when were _cats_ employees? He'd ended up with a rather nasty scratch on his back, but had managed to hide away before suffering worse. It made his suit uncomfortable, but he hadn't had any sort of time to use a bath to take away the sting. He'd hardly had time to don the suit!

He paused outside of the restaurant, pressing a hand to his heart and taking deep breaths while he settled from the dead run he'd engaged in from his suite to where he was now. He adjusted his hat, which he'd grown oddly fond of, and his jacket. He glanced back, making sure his tail was perfectly centered between the tails of the coat, and allowed himself a small smile before striding into the restaurant area as if he owned it. In his mind, he already did.

Brain mentally skimmed over his plans, seeking out the older woman and her daughter, and wondered just how he'd manage to stay on schedule with things like cats in his way. He'd clearly have to find a way to spend more time with Pinky during their days. He wanted to have every deck sketched out by Monday night. They needed to be in the boiler rooms by Sunday and that wouldn't be possible under their current scheduling conflicts.

Maybe he should've made Pinky a duke after all.

He finally caught a flash of bright red hair and began making his way towards their table, dodging careless feet as he went. "Mrs. Baker!" he greeted, halting near the chair of the elder woman. There was her daughter, a rather oily looking fellow, an equally oily fellow, an older man that didn't hold much interest at first glance, and another wealthy woman that he would clearly have to introduce himself to soon. The others he didn't pay any mind to, turning his attention back on the woman who had invited him. "Good evening."

The woman nodded stiffly, a farce of a smile delicately tugging at her lips as she returned the greeting. "Lord Brain, welcome." She introduced him to her company, faltering when she arrived at her daughter, who happened to be on the arm of a man not her fiance. "And this is my daughter, Tulip, and this young man is... Jake Dolphin." The last bit carried a bit of venom, but her friendly facade did not diminish.

Recognizing him instantly as one of Pinky's bunkmate, Brain's jaw attempted to drop all the way to the floor. This could very clearly only lead to... Pinky. Brain smacked a hand to his forehead several times in the hopes of fixing whatever mental problem he'd just picked up. There was absolutely no way that Pinky's head had just popped out of Jake's jacket pocket.

And there was even less of a chance that he was wearing a brunette wig and makeup. That was _not_ Pinky behaving himself! Through whacking himself, Brain glanced up again and decided that the only thing to do was throttle Pinky and leap overboard. The plan was more than ruined, it was obliterated. They would surely be chucked overboard for this.

A little dizzy from the repetitive, self-induced strikes, Brain climbed up to the empty chair Mrs. Baker had left for him and allowed himself a momentary beat of pleasure when he saw it had been boosted already so he could be seated _at_ the table and not _on_ it. Pinky was waving at him now and Brain decided with a small twitch that he would throttle Jake and _then_ Pinky.

Jake took his seat beside Tulip, the young woman torn between amusement and annoyance, though looked upon the man next to her with nothing but fondness. She held out her palm towards Jake's jacket pocket, allowing Pinky to step onto it daintily. Though daintily for Pinky meant tripping over his long skirt. Giggling to himself, he got to his feet and brushed off his dress. It was pale pink with a sheer overlay, a white sash tying in around the middle, he was quite proud of it. Tulip lowered him to his seat, also boosted so that he could be at table level, right next to Brain.

"Hi, Brain!" Pinky beamed at him, surely he'd be pleased with how nicely he'd dressed up. He looked just like all the other lovely women seated at the table! It was just his luck that Jake had happened to save poor, sweet Miss Tulip from throwing herself off the back of the boat.

He had to admit that it was one of Pinky's better disguises, but it still couldn't douse his extreme irritation. How on earth was he supposed to explain this? He slanted an irritable look Jake's way, got a smirk in return, and mentally reduced the human to homeless vagrant after he'd taken over the world. "Hello, Pinky."

One of the oily men leaned forward, gazing at Pinky with unmistakable admiration. "And who is this lovely creature?"

Something snapped into The Brain that was exponentially sharper than his irritation. He sat up straighter with suddenly no intention of allowing him to assume that Pinky was somehow... available. "This is my..." His teeth gritted. "Wife, Lady... Pinky of Lumfordchestershire."

"Oh?" Mrs. Baker arched a thin brow. "Why, Lord Brain, you didn't mention that you were attached."

"No." If blood could boil, his was. "I suppose I didn't."

"Oh, yes. We're quite in love!" Pinky batted his eyelashes at Brain, clasping his hands together demurely, then tried to stifle his giggles. "_Narf!_" Playing pretend was great fun.

The more conservative of the first class passengers eyed the exclamation with distaste, but others such as Jake and Tulip merely covered their own lips to hide the telling smiles that threatened to disrupt the atmosphere. Not that Pinky's presence didn't already accomplish this.

Brain closed his eyes for a moment, absolutely mortified and desperately trying to come up with some sort of explanation. Quite in love, indeed. "My apologies. My wife tends towards... seasickness. It gives her tics and she _normally_," he shot a glare Pinky's way, "stays in our private quarters where she can lie down."

"Poit." Pinky recognized that tone. The wig made it difficult for his ears to droop, but the sentiment shown in his eyes all the same. He'd missed him dreadfully earlier in the day, mostly because he anticipated the evening and it didn't seem to come quickly enough. Wandering around the first class deck with Jake and Tulip had taken his mind off of it for a while, but seeing how well they got along made him miss Brain even more. But this wasn't turning out at all like he'd hoped. Still, maybe playing along would cheer Brain up some. "Oh yes, the sea does make me woozy. But the thought of missing dinner with such lovely people, well, I just wouldn't be able to live with myself! _Troz!_"

This seemed to appeal to those around the table, allowing them to drift into discussion of the strange, third class guest sitting among them. Pinky fiddled with his skirt, pleased with himself for the most part, then watched as the glasses were all filled with champagne. They were awfully tall glasses though, how did The Brain expect them to drink from all the way up there?

Brain didn't see Pinky's ever-widening gaze on the champagne glasses, nor did he pay overmuch attention to things Jake was saying about adventure and life and other silly things. His mind was whirling, his concentration returned now that the attention wasn't on them. And, really, he was pleased by Pinky's tact, surprising though it was. It had led to his - or, rather, _her_ - acceptance fairly quickly. With the attention now on Jake, Pinky's presence probably wouldn't be questioned again or even be considered of any particular notice. They could wander the first class areas freely together with him like this and-

His own eyes widened, a smile curving his lips as inspiration struck. "Yes!" he exclaimed, but raucous laughter drowned out the word of a mouse entirely. He reached over, grabbed Pinky's hand. "Pinky! Are you pondering what I'm pondering?"

Pinky jumped, not expecting to be grabbed, and turned his attention from the towering crystal flutes to Brain. Seeing the familiar expression of inspired genius on his friend's face lifted his spirits considerably. "I think so, Brain," Pinky nodded, tail swishing beneath his skirt, "but have silly straws even been invented yet?"

The familiar inanity didn't irritate as much as it normally did, though Brain suspected that was only due to his separation from Pinky through the day. "No, Pinky, your disguise. It's perfect!"

An unfamiliar warmth spread through him, as well as a fluttering in his belly that could only be compared to butterflies. His cheeks flushed and he ducked his head bashfully. "Oh! Thank you, Brain! You know, it took a lot of work to find the right shade to compliment my eyes!"

Brain started to shake his head and explain further, but they were at a very crowded table. He bit back the explanation, stored it for later, and patted Pinky's hand. They would just have to get away from the table as soon as possible. And, well, the shade _was_ complimentary. "Yes, Pinky, you did very well." He leaned back a bit, pausing when he would've withdrawn his hand when he caught sight of the champagne glasses. They were incredibly tall and there wasn't a thimble in sight. Drat.

Praise from The Brain was not often very forthcoming, so Pinky drank it in with a giddy grin and uncontrollable wiggling. He also made sure to hold onto Brain's hand back when he didn't let go right away. After he managed to chase the butterflies away for the most part, he followed Brain's gaze back to the champagne flutes, his previous pondering returning to him. "See, Brain? If we had bendy straws this would be a lot easier! Zort!"

"Yes, though thimbles would be more appropriate for toasting," Brain mused, growing rather distressed in his own way when the others at the table lifted their glasses to do just that. Without even noticing, his grip on Pinky's hand tightened as he imagined his place in this society going up in smoke. There were certain things that were just _done_, and joining in toasts was one of those things. "Foiled by _champagne_," he muttered.

"Gesundheit." Pinky responded, observing the others as they all raised their glasses. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw movement towards them, something shiny! He turned to look, spying the lovely lady who sat on the other side of Jake, he believed she said her name was Molly, discreetly pass two thimbles over to them. When Pinky met her gaze she winked at him. Grinning broadly, he took the pair of thimbles and handed one to Brain. "Here, Brain! Cups for us!"

The Brain stared at the thimble in his grasp and his urge to bop Pinky for the gesundheit dissipated. Someone had just earned some sort of fancy title in his regime. "Excellent, Pinky." He held up his thimble to join in the toast, realized he had no idea what they were toasted to, and just mumbled something that sounded close to what the rest were saying.

Pinky mimicked Brain, holding his thimble up with two hands. Honestly he had no idea what they were doing, but since everyone else seemed to understand what this signified, he just went along with it. When everyone made to take a sip, he did too, relieved because he was decently thirsty. However, the bubbles tickled his nose and made it hard for him to swallow. Still, it tasted better than the stuff he drank the night before, but why weren't there any decent water bottles on this ship?

Brain rolled his eyes at Pinky's scrunched nose and reached out, touching his shoulder. "Don't drink the rest of that, Pinky. You'll need a clear head later."

Blinking curiously at that order, Pinky tilted his head. What did a drink have to do with his head? "But Brain, I'm thirsty." And hungry now that he thought about it, he hadn't eaten since breakfast, too preoccupied with making his disguise.

Brain set his thimble aside before taking Pinky's. "We can ask for water, Pinky."

"You little darlings need something?"

Brain glanced Mrs. Brown's way, gave a small hum. "Water we can reach, actually. Anything stronger wouldn't be good for Pinky's... seasickness." When the boisterous woman immediately started making a fuss on their behalf, Brain's opinion of her went up several notches. It would've gone up more, but her brashness was off-putting. She could be a duchess of something. Maybe he'd give her Texas.

Pinky was delighted by the water, taking big gulps of it. Now he certainly believed this ship had everything a mouse could want! He was rather fond of Miss Molly Brown, he liked how cheerful she was from the other stuffy headed people at the table. They looked at him funny whenever he'd say: "Narf". When the dinner rolls arrived his euphoria skyrocketed, immediately ripping off little pieces for him to chew. Some cheese would compliment it quite nicely, but he was just glad to know these stuffy heads ate real food too.

"Want some, Brain?" He offered a piece of the bread, his cheeks full already.

"Don't eat so quickly," Brain admonished quietly, grateful that much of the attention seemed to be split between digs at Jake and Mrs. Brown's exuberant stories. "You'll make yourself seasick for real." He took the proffered bread anyway since neither of them could finish an entire roll on their own. Or at least he wasn't going to let Pinky attempt to do so.

Swallowing had been quite a difficult affair, but he managed. "I can't help it, Brain! I'm starving!" But he did try to mind him, taking much smaller pieces and nibbling them slowly.

"Yes, I'm sure. Don't fill up on bread, though. There are other courses." Though hiding in a broom closet most of the afternoon had left Brain rather hungry, too. He had to be conscious about how much he put in his mouth at a time. The other courses had better hurry. He paid close attention to Pinky in order to distract himself. Making sure he was behaving would help _him_ behave.

"You mean there's more?" Pinky perked up. "Naaaarf! This is much better than the brothy dishwater they serve downstairs, and I thought that was a treat!" He laughed to himself, setting down his piece of bread to wait for more food.

While he waited he glanced over at Jake and Tulip, who were engaged in some kind of big-wordy conversation. When Jake looked his way though, Pinky waved enthusiastically and the man grinned back. He looked relieved, as if the conversation he was currently engaged in was incredibly taxing.

Brain reached out, grasping his companion's shoulder. "Don't do that at the table, Pinky."

Pinky craned his neck to look at Brain. "Because... why?"

"Because that isn't what ladies do. You're playing pretend, remember?" He managed not to roll his eyes. "Be more of a lady, Pinky."

"Oh, right!" Pinky moved to knock himself on the head for forgetting, but then realized that wasn't very lady-like at all. Instead he crossed his legs and placed his paws primly in his lap, just like all the other fancy women were doing, even Tulip. "How's this Brain?" He tossed his "hair" for good measure.

It made his stomach tighten for some reason, so he set aside his bread and cleared his throat. "Very good, Pinky. Just do what Ms. Tulip does and I'm sure you'll make a fine lady."

Pinky tried to fight back a smile, since none of the ladies save for Miss Molly Brown were smiling all that much, but the effort just made him giggle quietly instead. Still, he managed to maintain his poise for a good amount of time, until the first course arrived. A cheese soup! He couldn't wait to see what else came after this, though he doubted anything could top cheese. Oh, how he loved his cheese. As everyone else sipped daintily from their spoons, Pinky attempted to do the same, even though the spoon was bigger than he was.

Brain struggled with the same issues, incredibly frustrated. He was even beginning to debate sacrificing conventionality for practicality. The smallest spoon would be much easier to work with... Or _something_. He watched Pinky for several moments before sighing and leaning closer; he deserved a small reward for working so hard. "It's alright if you fill up on soup. I doubt you'll enjoy the rest of the meal as much." And they could blame "her" sudden lack of appetite on seasickness. "Use your thimble," he decided and picked up his own to demonstrate. Once Pinky was suffering from "seasickness," he would draw attention to it and take him away. He may as well fill up on the cheese soup as well.

Pinky watched carefully, his desire for the warm, cheese soup enabled him to pay attention. The thimble made it much easier to drink it down, and he did so with gusto. Smacking his lips happily, he hummed as he refilled the thimble with more soup. "It's so good, Brain! _Narf!_" It was a good thing the bowls were so big, he was determined to eat it all.

"Slow down, Pinky. You don't want to get any on your dress, do you?" He did roll his eyes since Pinky's face was half-buried in the thimble. "It matches your eyes," he monotoned. "I'd hate to see it ruined."

Upon being mentioned, his blue eyes blinked curiously up at Brain over the rim of the thimble, then quickly averted to stare at the orange-yellow liquid in his cup. His face felt hot and it wasn't because of the soup. Once the feeling passed, his scarfing caught up with him and he suddenly felt very full. He set the thimble down wearily. "I think I'm done now, Brain..." All he wanted to do was curl up and go to sleep now... except... No, if he was done eating, then that meant he and Brain would have to go back to their separate floors! He doubted Brain would want to stay again after being all grumpy-growly this morning. "Maybe just a few more." Pinky picked up the thimble again, but his stomach protested the idea of downing even a single drop more.

Brain quickly reached out, taking a hold of his friend's arm. "No, Pinky. Don't make yourself sick. We have _plans_, remember?" They couldn't go through the ship properly if he was ill. "If you're finished, we can excuse ourselves."

Oh, right! Plans. His excitement trickled back in, albeit languidly due to his full stomach. "It's tonight!" Pinky remembered, putting the thimble down again. "Okay, Brain, I'm ready! Poit."

"Of course you are." Brain set aside his thimble and leaned over, resting a hand on Pinky's brow. "We're going to play a new game," he said quietly. "Pretend that your stomach's doing odd things and that your head feels all..." He searched for a word Pinky would understand. "Floaty."

Not quite aware of his actions, Pinky nuzzled Brain's hand, not really minding the wig. "Oh... I don't have to pretend, Brain." How Brain managed to know how his head and stomach felt when he touched him like that astounded him, even though it really shouldn't have. He knew everything. "Hey, you're pondering what I'm pondering!" Not fully aware that pondering and observing weren't the same.

"That's a terrifying thought," Brain muttered, allowing the nuzzling since it fit the image he now wanted to project. He threw in a gentle stroke of Pinky's cheek for good measure, a little surprised that his face actually felt warm. His concern was more genuine now. "Pinky, are you alright?"

Pinky's eyes slipped closed and he nodded. "Mmhmm. Floaty and wibble-wobble." It was such a nice feeling, a lot like how Brain normally made him feel but more so. "That's what you said, right Brain?"

He hadn't, nor would he, ever say "wibble-wobble." Sighing, Brain drew away to speak to Mrs. Baker. If Pinky was pretending, he was doing an exceptional job. "Mrs. Baker, I'm, ah, very sorry but my... wife seems to have her seasickness returning full force. If you'll excuse us, I'd like to take her to our quarters."

"Poor thing looks about ready to keel over," Mrs. Brown put in and Brain latched onto it.

"Yes. I'll just... take her now." He reached out and took Pinky's hands in his own. "Come along... dear. We'll return to our room and you can lie down."

It was a most peculiar thing, Pinky could've sworn he started to feel better once Brain moved away, but the second he took his hands, the flutters came back. "Okay, Brain." He craned his neck back to bid farewell to his friends-and the stuffy heads-then followed Brain to their next destination. "Where's the plan, Brain?" He held on tightly to his paw with one of his own, holding up the train of his dress with the other.

"Just where I said, Pinky. First, we'll head to my room." He kept his hand in Pinky's to make sure he didn't wander off. The Brain still didn't know the ship's layout enough to allow his sidekick to walk about on his own. It was bad enough when he was with Jake. "And then we'll head to the Boat Deck and pick up where I left off before. Posing as my wife - we should have done this from the start."

Pinky 'ooed' over the fine decor of the first class floor, he hadn't seen much of it before he was whisked away to the lower level. "Does this mean I get to stay in your room now, Brain?" While he'd grown quite fond of Jake, Fabreeze, and that German guy, he certainly wouldn't pass up a chance to be with Brain again. Speaking of Jake... and the deck, it reminded him of something. Before even giving his friend a chance to respond to the first question, excitement propelled him onto the next topic. "Oh, when we're on the deck, I have to show you something, Brain! It's really super! Troz! Jake showed me yesterday!"

"Oh, goody," Brain replied, sarcasm obvious to anyone but the mouse beside him. "How important is this detour to you, Pinky?" They didn't really have time, but he supposed Pinky had earned something for all of this.

"Very, very important!" Pinky affirmed, nodding resolutely. "Oh, please, Brain! You'll like it! I promise!"

Shaking his head, the megalomaniac continued on. He highly doubted he'd enjoy anything _Jake_ had introduced. "Alright, Pinky. One brief detour. I suppose you've earned it. You did very well at dinner, my friend."

"Hooray!" Pinky cheered, stopping himself when other passengers looked, he forgot he still needed to play pretend even if all the whirly-twirly feelings were real. "I mean, hooray." He whispered quietly, then nuzzled up to Brain. "That's _wife_ to you, mistah!"

"Husbands and wives can also be friends," Brain pointed out, hoping to distract from the color that was flooding his cheeks. The affection was suitable for their current roles, but he was still extremely unused to it. He broke away, hopping down a stair. "Hurry along, Pinky."

Pinky hopped down the steps as well, but paused when he realized his skirt flew up when he did so. "Brain, it's not lady-like to hurry!" He clutched the dress in both paws, inching his way down the stair carefully. Even with his efforts though, he stumbled a bit, sending his already mussed wig down a few steps in front of him. "My hair!"

Brain climbed back up the few stairs to pick the wig up. "Pinky, you don't need to be lady-like going down the stairs when no one's around." He held out a hand, impatient. "Now come along. We'll fix your hair when you get to the bottom."

Pinky folded his arms across his chest. "You're here." He pointed out, looking from the skirt to Brain's hand and back. Compromise was attained when he used one hand to bunch up the dress and the other to take Brain's proffered one. A couple more hops and they made it successfully to the bottom of the staircase. "Being a lady is hard, Brain."

"I'm sure it is, Pinky. Bend down." When Pinky did as he was told, Brain carefully placed the wig back onto his head just in case someone came down the hall. "There. You make for a lovely lady." Brain fixed his hat before turning away and striding down the hall towards his suite.

Smothering his embarrassed giggles in his paws, Pinky skipped along after Brain, letting his dress go swish-swish as he did so. "Which room's yours, Brain?"

"Fifty-three." Brain clasped his hands behind his back, glad that they were nearing it. His back still stung rather fiercely, so he supposed it was another thing for him to be grateful to Pinky for. He'd gotten him out of the meal much sooner than he would've been excused otherwise. He mentally elongated the length of time he was going to allow for Pinky's detour. "You'll find that it's rather different from yours. Thankfully."

Pinky found if he spun with enough speed, the skirt swooshed around him and bubbled up. This amused him for most of their trek down the hall, until the cheese soup began to protest such actions. As did the rocking of the ship. He returned to normal walking, falling in step behind Brain. "Do you get silly-willy roommates too?"

"Absolutely not. First class passengers room alone or with family." The shorter of the two shoved open the door and strolled in, taking a deep breath since he was now in private quarters. Just a bigger version of their cage, really, and it was comforting. "Close the door behind you, Pinky," he ordered and started pulling off his jacket.

"Right-o, Brain!" Pinky tugged the door shut, excited to explore this new room. He spun around, humming to himself, but paused when he saw Brain taking off his jacket. "Brain? What's that on your back?"

"Proof that felines shouldn't be allowed to prowl freely," Brain muttered, annoyed. If Pinky had noticed, then the scratch was obvious. He started up the side of a stool, hopping from it to the vanity to see if he couldn't catch sight of the scratch in the mirror. Drat. It was angry and red-looking, which meant it was likely to sting for quite a while. "Felines," he grumbled.

Pinky followed him to the vanity, putting aside his exploration of the room for the time being. "You have an angry owie." He lamented, looking concerned for a moment before he turned away to start rifling through the drawers. After some nosing around, he finally tossed out a roll of bandages and what appeared to be some kind of antiseptic cream. Moving it over to where Brain stood, Pinky twirled his finger in the air. "Turn around, Brain!"

The Brain studied the located supplies a moment before sighing. He complied, however, folding his arms across his chest. "I'll be fine, Pinky. You and I have had much worse."

"Only because we had bandaids to make it all better! _Narf!_" Pinky replied, scooping up some of the ointment in his paws. "Now, hold still!" He was used to this routine by now, yes, though usually he was around to see the cause of the injuries. His tongue poked out the side of his mouth in concentration as he gently touched the angry redness to rub in the antiseptic.

Even though he'd been expecting it, Brain couldn't help the hissing sound he made when the medicine touched the wound. "The worst part about being wounded is the healing process, Pinky. Do this quickly, will you? We have a schedule to keep."

"Sorry, Brain." Pinky didn't like that it hurt before it got better, but that was how it worked. He nuzzled Brain's ear in apology, then finished up with the cream. Unrolling some of the bandages, he proceeded to wrap them around the shorter mouse's middle until all of the red was hidden from sight. He secured it, then stepped back to survey his work. "All done! Do you feel better yet, Brain?"

There was still some stinging, but it had mostly been cooled off by the antiseptic. Brain reached up to tug idly at the ear Pinky had nuzzled. "I feel much better, Pinky. Thank you."

Pleased by this, he hugged Brain's head rather than the part he just wrapped up. "Hoorah!" It was short, since Brain said he wanted to hurry, and he started to push the items back towards the drawer.

Brain rubbed his head, looking back at Pinky for a moment. He felt oddly warm, but couldn't quite place why... "Go wash your hands, Pinky, and then you can show me whatever it was Jake showed you."

"Okie-dokie, Brain!" Pinky hopped off the vanity, missing the stool entirely, to face plant on the floor. He laughed nonetheless, and headed off towards the bathroom. He was very excited to show him what he'd learned, and also to carry out tonight's plans. "What're you gonna do on the deck, Brain? What's part of the plan?" he hollered from his place at the sink, nudging the faucet on and running his paws through the water. Pinky debated shaking them dry, but didn't want to get water droplets on his dress, so he found a towel to use instead. Brain liked this dress, he wasn't about to ruin it!

Brain had pulled on a white shirt and was buttoning it carefully in order to hide the bandages as he wandered into the bathroom. If they saw anyone, he didn't want to have to explain why his stomach was wrapped up. It was a bit of a surprise to see Pinky actually using a towel. He must've been taking being a lady seriously.

"I've told you plenty of times, Pinky. I need to see the entire ship in order to sketch out a map of it before we take it over. I'll need to know where most of the crew is stationed, after all, in order to avoid them. I've already started, but there's much more to be seen."

Clambering down the sink, Pinky readjusted the dress as he got to the floor and smiled at Brain. "You should ask Jake to help! He makes such lovely drawings! He could draw the ship!"

Brain scowled at the idea, buttoning his cuffs. "The less I have to include that human in our plans, the better. Are _my_ renderings not good enough?" The question was snapped, an insecurity he refused to admit to blocking out the fact that Pinky hadn't even seen any of his sketches thus far.

Pinky's eyes widened, taken aback by the assumption. He waved his arms frantically in front of him as if it would stop the angry words in their tracks. "Oh no, Brain! Poit! I'm sure your drawings are lovely too! I just thought you might like some help!"

"Pinky, _you_ are all the assistance I require." He spun away and walked out, going for the jacket he'd removed before.

With a long look after Brain as he stalked out, Pinky folded his arms behind his back and grinned. "Naaaaarf." He followed suit, fixing his hair as he approached Brain. "Ready, Brain?" He chirped, balancing on one foot as he spread his arms out. Wobbling a little, he took to spinning in a circle before setting his foot and arms down in unison. "Do you have your crayons?" He couldn't very well do his drawings of the ship without crayons.

"No, Pinky. I can't very well carry crayons and paper around the ship. I just have to remember everything and sketch it quickly when we return." He didn't have an eidetic memory for no reason, after all. He needed to use his talents. "And to answer your earlier question, yes." He tugged at his lapels to straighten his coat, looking over his shoulder at his companion. "You'll be staying here from now on unless something occurs that requires you to sleep down below."

"Oh, goody!" Pinky sidled up right beside him. "Thank you, Brain!"

Brain glanced up at him, placing his hat back upon his head. "Let's get to work, Pinky. To the deck!"

* * *

><p>If you think crossdressing is an unusual thing for Pinky to do...<p>

Have you ever even seen the show before? C'mon! XD

In "Of Mouse and Man" you can see him putting on lipstick for absolutely no reason, lol


	5. Chapter 5

The chilled ocean air chased a good amount of the passengers to their rooms or below deck. A few couples strolled along the bow, arm in arm, admiring the night sky and the rush of the sea. Pinky hurried past them to the very front, poking is head over one of the lower bars of the railing to peer down at the watery depths. There had been dolphins swimming with the ship the previous day, but now it was too dark to see anything. "Poit." No matter, he still had the really cool thing to show Brain while he memorized the ship's layout.

Brain was close enough to Pinky to reach out and grab him if he slipped, but his attention was more focused on the layout. They weren't on the deck with the cat, which is where they needed to be, but this was an acceptable angle for the moment. He took in the dips of the deck, the buildings, and marveled at just how long it seemed from the bow. It was impossible to even _see_ the stern from where they were thanks to the top two decks in the middle.

"Be careful, Pinky," he said, waving a hand vaguely as he internalized what he could see. Perhaps they'd head to the stern and he could see what he could do then. He really wasn't eager to return to the Boat Deck, though he knew they needed to.

"Okay, Brain!" Pinky replied as he shimmied up the railing. It was easier when Jake lifted him up to set him on the top of it, but climbing had never been a difficult task for him. As a mouse, they were required to do it on a regular basis. He balanced himself on the top of the rail, arms spread out as his dress flapped around. Turning around, back to the expansive ocean, he waved down at Brain. "Brain! You can be King of the World up here! Jake said so! _Narf!_"

"Mmhm. That's nice, Pinky." Brain glanced up towards the voice, turned his attention back to the deck in the distance. Then he blinked and whirled, heart leaping into his throat. "Pinky! What are you doing up there?"

"I never knew taking over the world was so easy." Pinky placed his hands on his hips as he looked around. "You just have to stand on a boat, Brain!"

He stepped forward, peered carefully over the edge, and his heart pounded desperately fast. If he fell... It made him dizzy to think of it, so he stepped back quickly and banished the thought. "Pinky! Get down from there!"

Puzzled by Brain's discomfort with the situation, Pinky started to walk back along the rail to where he'd first climbed up, holding his arms out like a tight rope walker. "But why, Brain? Don't you want to be King of the World?"

"It's not... You can't literally become king of anything by simply standing at the bow of a ship, Pinky! I'm sure your... friend was just filling your head with nonsense like Gerry does. Now come down!"

"Okay!" Pinky called down, bending over to grab hold of the vertical metal bar so he could slide back down. Shifting his center of gravity threw him off balance, however, and he wobbled from side to side. He straightened up to see if that would fix it, but the abrupt movement just sent him tumbling forward. "Naaaaarf!" He yelped, closing his eyes as he landed face first on the deck floor. Laughter bubbled up out of him as he sat up. "Egad! That was fun!"

Brain was staring at him, fingers bunched in his shirt just above his hammering heart, face contorted and twitching slightly as he experienced what was surely a heart attack. He quickly latched onto Pinky's dress, dragging him from the edge. "Pinky, do you have any idea how dangerous that was? If you'd fallen the other way-! I could've-!" He couldn't finish the thought, abruptly releasing his companion. "You're not to do that again!"

"But Brain, I did it yesterday!" He hadn't fallen over, so there wasn't anything to worry about. And even if he had. "I'm a good swimmer! Poit!" Still, Brain didn't look his usual grumpy-growly self, so Pinky wouldn't press the issue. His ears wilted beneath the wig. "Sorry, Brain."

"It doesn't _matter_ that you're an excellent swimmer, Pinky! Upon reaching a certain velocity due to the acceleration of gravity generated by falling from such a height, the impact upon the water itself could cause irreparable damage! Besides that, your height in comparison to the height of the ship in correlation with the ship's current speed makes it entirely possible for you to strike the edge of the ship before you even _reached_ the ocean!" he ranted, knowing full well that Pinky wouldn't understand a word but unable to stop. The images produced courtesy of science were now burned into his mind and his heart was _still_ racing. He grabbed the front of Pinky's dress, using it to drag him close. "You will _not_ climb up there again. Promise me, Pinky."

All the big silly words certainly flew over Pinky's head, but whatever he was blah-blah-blahing about didn't appear to be good things. His eyes crossed themselves when Brain tugged him closer, as he tried to keep his focus on the shorter mouse, and he was able to comprehend that last bit loud and clear. Pinky nodded exaggeratedly, his nose bumping against Brain's. "I promise! Narf!" He was disappointed that Brain hadn't been interested in it, even more so that it had upset his friend rather than cheer him up, so the least he could do would be to promise not to... do the hoozywhatsits again.

"I really am sorry, Brain." Pinky reiterated, fidgeting under Brain's tight grip of his dress. He hoped it wouldn't wrinkle.

"Good." Brain released him, stepping back to rub his forehead. He was either going to have to make sure Pinky stayed far away from Jake or he was going to have to engage in a very serious conversation about what nonsense shouldn't be implanted in his simple mind.

Actually, considering that particular human's actions thus far, it was unlikely that he'd listen. It left him with one simple course of action. "Pinky, I no longer want you to..." He trailed off, looking back at Pinky. He looked... upset. Brain considered the past few minutes, processing quickly, and pressed the heels of his palms to his eyes and growled low in his throat before opening his eyes again. Pinky had been, in some bizarrely misguided fashion, trying to give him the world. "Never mind. I appreciate the thought, Pinky. Thank you."

Without warning, even Pinky couldn't predict his own actions before they occurred, he swept Brain up in a flying hug and spun around. "Oh, good! You're not mad! _Troz!_" He smiled brightly, it had worked! In a roundabout sort of way... but Brain said 'thank you' so he must've liked something. "I was worried you'd send me back to be ovaltined! Not that it wasn't nice down there, poit. The people were really quite friendly, but still!" He gave Brain an extra squeeze for good measure. "_Narf!_"

The breathe he'd managed to get back stolen again, Brain tried shoving away. "Quarantined, Pinky. And, no, I don't plan on sending you back to third class." He managed to get to the floor, brushing his sleeves off. "I told you, your assistance is required." He wasn't going to lead Pinky to the Boat Deck this night, after all. He wouldn't be able to handle the potential heart attack of dealing with the cat. "Come, Pinky. We'll explore the Promenade Deck tonight."

"Oooh, is that like lemonade?" Pinky asked, intrigued by more exploring.

"No, Pinky. A promenade is a leisurely walk, which is just what this deck was designed for. Now we'll make our way from here to the stern and then head back to our room so I can complete the sketches. Do you understand?"

Clasping his hands behind his back, Pinky nodded. "We walk with the proms and the nades and the lemons til they're all stern, then we go back to our room and color! _Narf!_ Got it all down this time, Brain!"

Brain gave him an irritated looking before leaping up and bopping him hard atop the head, considering it to be a sort of reset button, before walking off. "Come, Pinky. We have quite a bit of ground to cover."

"Right, Brain!" Pinky laughed dizzily, wobbling after Brain until the effects of the bop diminished and he could walk straight again. "Egad, it's going to take you a long time to draw this huge boat! Poit! Do you have a big enough piece of paper?"

"I'm not drawing it to _scale_, Pinky. I'd have to have paper as long and as tall as this vessel." Brain clasped his hands behind his back, looking around carefully. He ignored the scatterings of people nearby unless they got in his way or slid into his field of view as he was studying some detail intently. Number of windows, placements of doors, individual posts on the railings - the numbers were stored away to be retrieved soon enough. "Feel free to chatter, Pinky. Appearing deep in conversation should discourage anyone from approaching us." It was one of the troubles he'd run into the day before while Pinky had been below decks - humans coming up to him to chat while he was trying to focus.

While Brain studied the components of the ship, Pinky studied the people. He smiled and waved when they made eye contact, silently admiring their fancy clothes. One dress in particular caught his eye, maybe he'd try that style next. Attentive to The Brain's request, Pinky decided to bring it up. "Do you think green would clash with my eyes? Or yellow! I do like yellow! Although I'm partial to that shade of cream right there." He watched a young lady pass by them, on the arm of a gentleman. In fact, now that he thought about it... all the lovely ladies locked arms with a gentleman of some kind.

Brain decided that he should've expected Pinky's chatter to include questions of some sort, so his scowl was minimal. "Blue and green tend to be compliments. I'm sure you would look fine in it, as with yellow and whatever shade of cream you like." He did have to admit, to himself, that Pinky did have a certain talent for color coordination. "Where will you get the fabric for it all?" he questioned, hoping Pinky would think long enough on that to keep from asking anymore questions.

Pinky beamed, if Brain thought all the colors were fine, he'd just have to make several new lovely dresses! "Oh, that's easy, Brain!" Unfortunately for his companion, Pinky had a response already prepared. "The same place I got for this one! Miss Tulip has a lot of beautiful dresses and handkerchiefs and ribbons and such that she doesn't like, so she said I can use them and make as many dresses as I want! She's so nice!" As he said all this, he looped his arm around Brain's, mimicking the other passengers, and increased their proximity.

Brain scowled, extracting his arm from Pinky's grasp. "What are you doing? I'm trying to concentrate."

Pinky merely grabbed hold again, pressing their sides against each other. "But everyone else is doing it! See, Brain?" With his free hand he pointed to several of the couples near them.

Eyes rolling, Brain quickly snagged Pinky's wrist and lowered it, keeping it pinned with the other one on his arm. "Fine, fine. Don't point, Pinky. We don't want to draw attention to ourselves." There was a beat of silence before Brain stared up at his "wife." "You _know_ Tulip Baker that well? How?"

"Oh, she's good friends with Jake now!" Pinky smiled, partly because he was thinking of his new friends, and partly because he cuddled up to Brain a little more with his permission. "He saved her life, that's why he got to go to the fancy dinner. _Zort!_ When he heard you were going too, he asked me if I wanted to come, then he took me to meet Miss Tulip and we spent all day together! Did you know she doesn't even know how to spit?" He giggled, tail swishing from side to side as he recalled the silly event.

Brain made a face, disgusted by the useless bit of information. "Spitting isn't a required... talent for ladies." He shook his head, returning the majority of his focus to the ship's layout. "A young woman of her breeding shouldn't even be associating with him so freely."

"It's not?" Pinky stared in astonishment. Well, that was disappointing to hear. He rather enjoyed spitting. Upon hearing the last bit, Pinky frowned lightly. "But, Brain, he saved her life! She was going to _whoosh _right off the back of the ship into the spinny thingies! And they get along so well! She was so sad before she got such a nice friend."

"Yes, yes, I'm sure." He gave Pinky a placating pat, unconsciously walking in step with him. "The class distinctions are still important, Pinky. I'm sure that she won't see him again after dinner."

Pout in place, Pinky stopped walking and let his arm slip free. "Brain, don't be so intolerant! She wouldn't just stop being his friend just because he has to sleep under the floor!" He folded his arms across his chest. "You didn't stop being my friend when I slept down there! You even visited!"

That was entirely different, but Brain didn't feel like explaining it. He was _busy_ and Pinky being stubborn wasn't going to help his concentration. "Fine, Pinky. They'll be the best of friends forever."

Pinky nodded, satisfied with this change of heart, and reattached himself to Brain's arm. "I hope we all get to play together some more! You should come too, Brain!"

Certain that no such thing was going to occur, Brain smirked. "Oh, yes. I'm sure we'd have a good old time," was the sarcastic response. But then he paused as he realized something absolutely horrifying - Tulip Baker _knew_ that Pinky was a) not his wife and b) third class. He smacked a hand to his brow. "I think we're going to have to visit Miss Tulip very soon, Pinky."

"Well, of course we do, Brain. I need to get more fabric for my dresses. I can't very well wear the same thing twice! _Narf!_" Pinky pointed out, though delighted that they'd get to visit with her again. During the dinner they'd been talking about rather odd things so he hadn't much of chance to talk with her. Or Jake for that matter. He started a bit when he realized they hadn't said a proper 'goodbye' since he wouldn't be sleeping in their room anymore, but then he remembered Jake saying something about not expecting him back that night... "Zounds, Brain... how did Jake know I was gonna move to your room?"

"What are you talking about, Pinky? He couldn't have known. _I_ only knew after you showed up to dinner in..." He gestured. "This."

Pinky scrunched up his eyes and nose, trying to recall what exactly had occurred. "Well, after I got dressed and Jake borrowed that handsome suit, he told me to have fun tonight and he'd see me tomorrow. Then he winked all friendly like! Oh, I do hope to see him tomorrow, he's fun-fun silly-willy!" He squeezed Brain's arm as he laughed. "He must be a fortune teller! _Troz!_ He can see the past!"

"Perhaps if he looks back far enough, he'll locate your brain," the megalomaniac muttered. Have _fun_ tonight? What on earth had that odd human been going on about? He couldn't have overheard their plan... "Hm. Perhaps we'll see him after we see Miss Tulip."

Pinky gasped, his eyes bright with excitement. "Really, Brain? Oh, hooray!" He hugged him tightly, rubbing his cheek against the top of Brain's head.

"Pinky, _please_, this is inappropriate even if you _are_ my wife." Reddening, Brain pushed away. "Save your exuberant displays for when we're alone."

"Oh right. Sorry, Brain!" Pinky covered his mouth to stifle some giggles. "I'll hug you extra later! _Narf!_ But can I still hold your arm until then?" He really was enjoying this game of pretend. He batted his eyelashes like some of the other women he'd seen do, holding his hand out to Brain.

Sighing, The Brain could only hope Pinky would forget about any extra hugging. He liked his lungs best when they worked, after all. "Yes, Pinky, you can hold my arm until then." He took the mouse's hand himself and returned it to his arm, continuing their walk. This deck was fairly simple, in his opinion. It could do with more flare. He flicked his gaze upwards, hummed quietly as he took in the stars. There were more viewable out here than there ever had been in the city. "Try and find pictures in the stars," he instructed, hoping to keep Pinky's mind occupied. He didn't want to lose count of anything.

Craning his neck upward, Pinky gazed at the expansive sky with a soft "ooooh". The twinkling lights captivated him for a while, he loved how they sparkled, and actually forgot about finding pictures for a while. When he did try, he found himself losing track of which stars should go where, so he used his free hand to help him connect the dots in the sky.

"I made a choo choo, Brain!" Pinky pointed at the pattern he made in his own mind, but lost his place as he did so. "Aww... poit." He started again, this time making a pretty flower. "What do you see in the stars, Brain?"

"Constellations, Pinky. Antlia, Chamaeleon, Crater, etcetera. They're simple to find when one knows where to look." Brain dismissed the subject, checking to see how far along they were. Hardly halfway... Hm.

Pinky couldn't see any of those, although he didn't know what they looked like to begin with so they could've been staring him right in the face. Instead he drew his finger around a large circle of stars, then observed it before making another bigger one to replace it. He worked on it for a little while, humming to himself until he was pleased with it's final design. "I put a cosmopolitan of you in the sky! Narf!" He laughed, deciding to do one of himself too. "Uh oh, I ran out of stars, Brain. Your head took them all."

Brain looked up, making a small scoffing sound. He wasn't exactly fond of the implication. His head wasn't quite that large. "Your pictures can share stars, Pinky."

Even with that in mind, Pinky couldn't find a way to take the stars from his Brain to make himself. "But I'll lose track of them, Brain." He'd already lost the crookedy tail twice. So he contented himself to just watching the stars instead, he'd draw more condiments later when Brain was drawing the boat. "Are you almost done drawing the boat in your head, Brain?"

"We'll reach the stern soon, Pinky. I'll be finished then." He patted Pinky's hand, absently leaving it. Counting everything was beginning to become a dull activity, so he began imagining striding across this deck as the owner to keep his motivation in place. A small smile formed, unnoticed.

When Brain's hand didn't leave his, Pinky tore his gaze from the sky to glance down at his friend. The almost hidden smile warmed him despite the chill of the air. He didn't know what had made The Brain so happy, but he must've been thinking about something nice. For the rest of the walk, Pinky decided to play a guessing game with himself to see if he could figure it out, but he realized somewhere between hot chocolate and licorice that this game was impossible to win. Shrugging it off, he decided he was just happy that he was happy and leaned into him a little extra.

A good deal of the other passengers were heading in, crew members mostly the ones milling about from deck to deck. It took a lot of people to run a ship it looked like, but it also looked like fun. Pinky hoped Brain would let him get to steer for a little bit when he made his own big ship, he always wanted to spin the wheel. "Can I spin the wheel sometimes, Brain?" He asked, all his ponderings finally needed to come out somewhere along the line.

"Hm?" Cut off from his own ponderings, Brain looked up and blinked, a little surprised that Pinky seemed closer than he remembered. He edged back, hand slipping from Pinky's. "Spin what wheel?"

"The big spinny wheel for the boat!" Pinky clarified, following when Brain edged away.

"Of course, Pinky." If they were in the middle of a very large ocean with less than a zero percent chance of running into anything, anyway. "Once I rule the world, you and I shall be able to do whatever we like!"

"Even fly to fairyland on our magical rainbow kites?" That had always been on his list of top ten things to do. Right before licking all the stamps ever and after buying a pair of shiny pants.

Pinky had been behaving so well that Brain didn't quite have the heart to tell him fairyland was make-believe. He patted his hand again instead. "Whatever you like, Pinky. Now there's the stern." He nodded his head. "We're nearly finished for tonight unless there's somewhere else you'd like to go." Though the minute that bit was out, he regretted it.

"The stern!" Pinky cheered, with no real idea what the stern was. "Time for the pomegranates to make lemonade!" His good behavior could only last so long. But given the option to choose their next destination, Pinky settled some. For about five seconds. "Oh, let's go dancing, Brain!" He tried to twirl, but with their arms laced together that made it rather challenging.

Brain tried to hold his ground against the twirl, but was unsuccessful, tripping over his own tail and falling into the taller mouse. "Pinky!"

Pinky caught him easily, sweeping him around for more controlled "dancing". "It'll be fun, Brain!"

"Pinky, stop it!" Brain freed a hand, laid it on Pinky's waist to push him away. "No one should be dancing at this time of night!" He hoped.

"They are downstairs." Pinky offered, continuing to dance by himself. "Last night there was dancing for a looooong time! _Narf!_ I went to bed before it was over! Then you came!" He paused, mid-waltz with the air. "Though it was very loud dancing. And wet." The floor had been slippery with the burny drink.

"Pinky, how often must I explain to you that I'm not supposed to _go_ downstairs?" Mingling with the lower classes seemed anything but pleasant. He rubbed his forehead. "Besides that, I need to go to our room and sketch out this deck of the ship."

He believed he explained it many times, Pinky recalled, but that didn't change the fact that he'd done it once before. Lowering his arms and shoulders slumping, Pinky sighed and relaxed out of his dancing position. "Poit."

He looked sad enough that The Brain found himself relenting. Really, despite a few annoyances and a mild heart attack he'd been incredibly well-behaved. And, well, Pinky had drawn him in the stars. "Fine, Pinky. But we won't be staying down there for long."

Blue eyes lit up at "fine" and Pinky began his twirling anew. "Oh, thank you, Brain!" He began to skip away, only to trip on the hem of his dress. It didn't faze him however, falling on his face was a usual pastime of his. Getting to his feet again, he laughed, picking up his wig that had also fallen off.

Brain rolled his eyes and strode forward, snatching Pinky's wig away to replace it. "This one seems to fall off more often than your usual," he mused, grabbing the taller mouse's shoulders to pull him down. "We'll either have to find a way to clip it or you'll have to be more careful." He rested his hands on Pinky's cheeks after settling the wig, studying Pinky carefully to make sure it was even.

Pinky continued his chortling as Brain adjusted the wig, but it silenced when he felt his paws cup his face. The funny feeling in his tummy returned, as did the floating of his head. His breath hitched as he watched Brain examine the angle of his wig. Something inside him urged him to tip his head forward, just slightly, just closer...

It was a fleeting desire. Instead of acting on it, Pinky simply smiled and chirped, "Hi Brain!"

"Hello, Pinky." For some reason, his heart was stuttering in his chest. Confused by the cause, his usual frown deepened a bit. "Did you even listen to a word I just said?"

For some reason his eyes felt a little heavy, so he blinked rapidly as he thought about Brain's question. "Hmmm... something about a walrus?"

"Your thought process both confuses and frightens me, Pinky," he deadpanned and released him, stepping away. His heart rate seemed to return to normal after taking a deep breath, so he nodded to himself and turned away. "Now, then, do you even remember how to get to where they were... dancing?"

"You're welcome!" Pinky smiled, all the funny feelings dissipating gradually. "Yes I do! It's down the stairs and..." He paused, tapping his chin as he tried to remember how exactly he'd arrived at the room the night before. "Umm... poit. Well, I know it's down the stairs!"

Sighing, Brain offered his arm for the walk to the stairs. "If we're unable to locate it within ten minutes, we're going back to our room. Understand?"

Pinky snuggled up against his arm. "Okay! Don't worry, Brain, I'll find it!" Luckily his keen sense of smell guided his normally directionally challenged self once they arrived on the third class floor, the heady scent of booze led the way. As well as the raucous music and cheering. "Narf! I found it, Brain!"

Brain observed the barbaric behavior with extreme distaste, watching a grown man fall onto a table thanks to a drunken swoon. The time he'd decided to stay was slashed in two. "We're staying fifteen minutes only, Pinky. No more."

Already excited at the prospect of getting to dance, and Brain willingly letting him drag him there, Pinky couldn't possibly complain about the time limit. Yet, that is. "Come on, Brain!" He tugged on his friend's arm, trying to encourage him to dance with him.

Brain swallowed hard, reaching up to take a hold of his hat as he was dragged towards the area where others were dancing to the lively music. "We're going to get squished, Pinky..." Hoping to stretch out the time before being forced to dance, Brain dug in his heels and gripped Pinky's hand. "We need to find higher ground. A nearby chair, perhaps."

"Oh, don't worry, Brain!" Pinky reassured, he himself had been stepped on several times the night prior. "We can get on a table! I saw people do that last time!" Feeling the resistance Brain was putting up, Pinky glanced back and tugged a little more. "Braaaain!" He would've continued to whine, except his attention was caught by a familiar face. "Oh, look, Brain! It's Jake! And Miss Tulip came to visit him!"

He watched with wide-eyed horror while she lifted to the absolute tips of her toes in front of several rather burly men. She'd clearly been drugged or... or something. Why else would a woman of her status and breeding be surrounded by such bohemians? She wasn't even wearing _shoes_. "I'm seeing things," he muttered, rubbing his eyes.

"I can do that too!" Pinky giggled, released Brain to hold out his arms for balance as he got on his tip-toes. "Oh, I love ballet! _Narf!_" He couldn't hold it for long though, toppling over just as Tulip did, though he laughed when he saw that Jake caught her. "Let's go play with them, Brain! They look like they're having loads of fun!"

Play with them, yes. It seemed safer than dancing, even if the pair of them were clearly as insane as Pinky. It really wasn't entirely surprising that Pinky would be able to find two insane people amongst over two-thousand. Brain could only hope that meant they would keep their secret. Then again, if Tulip wanted to keep her own presence there a secret, she would have to keep theirs.

Perfect. "Yes, Pinky. Let's go and visit your friends."

"Hooary!" Pinky crowed, scrambling up from his sprawled position on the floor. He scaled the table they were closest too, waving at the pair of humans he'd quickly grown attached to.

Jake grinned as he spied Pinky and The Brain. "So you guys decided to come down and join the real party?" He reached into his pocket and procured two thimbles, the same two from earlier most likely. They were filled with small amounts of ale, then handed off to the mice.

Pinky accepted the thimble, but merely set it down, mostly due to his desire to dance rather than remembering Brain's orders or the weird taste. "Thanks, Jake! Lovely to see you, Miss Tulip."

"You as well, Pinky." She smiled indulgently, taking another large gulp of her ale. Pinky was impressed, it certainly made up for her poor spitting habits to be able to drink that fast.

"I must say, I didn't expect to see the two of you tonight. Thought you'd be all cozy up in your room." The human male glanced between the two, simply making conversation.

Pinky giggled, the exuberant energy of the room infectious for him. "Oh, we're going to do that later! But Brain said we could dance first! _Narf!_"

Brain looked from Tulip's fast gulping to the thimble in his grasp. Two of those and their bloodstreams would be entirely full. He took a sip anyway, trying to show _some_ decorum in a roomful of miscreants, and then blinked rapidly to keep his eyes from watering. That was... very strong. He coughed, quickly setting his thimble beside Pinky's and made a mental note to discard Pinky's before he made the mistake of sampling the strong liquor.

But then he took note of Jake's words and sent him a suspicious glare. "We're only staying for a few minutes."

"A few minutes of this and you'll be hooked, I'm telling you." Jake replied. "It sure beats rubbing elbows with the snob society upstairs." Tulip laughed, nodding in agreement, and he smiled at her fondly before looking back at Brain. "Though I wouldn't blame you for turning in early. Wanting your privacy and all." He took a swig from his tumbler.

"I don't see anything particularly _wrong_ with wanting privacy." He plucked his thimble back up and took another sip to spite him. He had plans to implement, after all. Sketches to draw. And this was a momentary distraction that was beneficial only because it guaranteed - with any luck - that Pinky would leave him be while he drew.

"Not at all, if I were you I'd do the same." Jake glanced down at Pinky, who was hopping along to the music, not at all paying attention to the conversation anymore and watching the people twirl about on the floor. "Take every chance I could get, which can be pretty difficult when you're sharing a room. Though you two managed alright last night."

"Of course we did," Brain muttered, something about the conversation seeming off. He couldn't exactly put his finger on what, though, which fueled his irritation and led to him absently taking a rather big swallow of the alcohol. It burned and made his eyes water again, so he glared at the amber liquid in distaste. "Pinky and I always manage in some capacity."

"Must be nice." Jake took another gulp before setting the glass down and turning to Tulip. "Shall we?" He gestured to the throng of people, then took her hand to lead her out. "Don't wear yourselves out too much before the main event!" Jake called back, releasing a good-natured laugh. "Save some of that energy, Pinky!"

Pinky stopped his skipping about. "Save it for what?" But the pair had already begun to dance with each other. "Oh, Brain, can we dance now? Puh-leeeeeze!" He pressed his palms together beseechingly.

"Oh, alright." He was feeling uncomfortably light-headed and blamed it on the surroundings and the irritation of Jake. So the sooner he danced with Pinky, the sooner they could leave. He set aside his half-empty thimble.

Overcome with giddiness, Pinky spun over to Brain and whisked him around, holding him tight to his chest. Rather than follow the steps this particular type of music called for, Pinky moved to his own compilation of waltz-ballet-tango that he was particularly fond of. Just anything with a lot of twirling and leaping and such would do the trick. He realized how much more fun it was when Brain would let him spin them both around, he certainly didn't mind dancing by himself and did it frequently enough, but there was just something extra fun-fun when he did it while holding Brain.

Brain clung to Pinky, realizing he had little choice but to do so. The frequent twirls, however, were starting to make his head spin. Worse, they were pressed cheek-to-cheek, so Pinky's exhalations were tickling his ear and making it twitch. He was only thankful that they weren't doing the ridiculous jigs he caught glimpses of between each twirl. "Pinky, slow down. Stop turning so much or you'll make me sick," he ordered quietly, at the unusual advantage of being able to speak directly into Pinky's ear if he tilted his head back just a bit.

"_Narf!_ Sorry, Brain!" Pinky immediately decreased the speed of his twirling, along with the amount of complete turns. He swayed and rocked more, completely ignorant of the music's tempo, nuzzling Brain's ear as he dipped. The butterflies once again took flight in his belly, but he figured they just wanted to dance too.

The lessening of the spins and twirls certainly helped his head, but his stomach continued to churn, breath catching at the dip. He decided it was the surprise of being lowered so suddenly rather than a result of Pinky's nuzzling. He swallowed hard, wondering how soon he should cut their dance in order to regain his sense of balance. "It's... extremely warm in here," he complained, a bit surprised by the breathlessness of his own tone.

"I know, isn't it nice?" Pinky returned, feeling warm himself but not in a bad way. He spun them again, thinking it odd that even though he wasn't moving nearly as fast as he was before, his heart was beating very quickly. He tucked his face against Brain's neck. "Isn't this fun, Brain?" And while it was fun, it didn't seem like the proper word to use. "It's lovely dancing with you! Poit."

It wasn't fun and lovely so much as baffling. He'd never really danced with Pinky before and now he supposed he knew why. There was a warmth in his gut that was expanding throughout the rest of his body and he wasn't quite sure what to do about his heartrate. Pinky was carrying him; it shouldn't be beating as rapidly as this. It wasn't a terrified beating as it had been when he'd seen Pinky on the railing, one wrong step away from being lost to him forever. But it was terrifying nonetheless because the warmth and the dizziness that now had nothing to do with spinning was _pleasant_.

"Pinky, I think..." His mind felt sluggish, so he shook his head and felt his cheek brush over the curls of his partner's wig. It helped ground him somehow, this piece that wasn't really his friend. "I believe I need a drink."

"Oh, alright then." Pinky slowed his movements to a gentle stop, relishing the close scent of his friend before lowing him to the ground, losing it and the warmth that came with holding him close. "Dancing is thirsty work!" Reluctantly, he released him and clasped his hands behind his back as he rocked back and forth on his heels, his body full of nervous energy.

"Yes." Surprised to find his legs to be shaky, Brain went to his thimble and picked it up. His throat was dry and there was nothing else around, so he took a couple of gulps and wrinkled his nose in distaste. How anyone drank this on a regular basis was beyond him.

But the new alcohol in his system didn't help lessen the light-headedness or the clutch in his stomach. It actually seemed, when he looked Pinky's way again, that it had worsened the sensations. His companion truly did have lovely eyes, the shade of blue as unusual as the mouse himself. The dress he'd created did work wonderfully with them, the pretty little sash a nice touch. And when Pinky noticed him staring and smiled, his heart gave an odd stutter and Brain weaved a bit in place before shaking it off.

While the weaving was odd, Pinky didn't question it and figured it was reminiscent of their dancing. "Feel better now, Brain?" He inquired, marvelling at how easily Brain was able to drink the burny liquid. He did make scrunchy faces from time to time, but still kept sipping it, so there must've been something in it he liked. Pinky glanced at his own thimble, as he said, dancing was thirsty work. Though he'd much rather have that lovely water from earlier.

"Yes," Brain assured him, but wasn't quite sure what the difference was. He was sure he felt much the same, but rather better about it all. But he caught Pinky's gaze roaming to his thimble and gave a small hiccup. "Pinky, you know you aren't su...sup... s'posed..." By Odin's beard, "supposed" was a rather large word. "Don't drink that."

Pinky tore his gaze away from it back to Brain. "Why not, Brain? You're drinking it." Though The Brain could do a lot of things that he couldn't. Like math. "I'm just starting to get thirsty too." Maybe he could find some water down here, the dishwater had been plentiful the night before, maybe they had some more of that.

"Because," was all he said since he couldn't recall the reasons at that moment. He closed an eye, experimenting, and discovered that Pinky was just as pretty with one eye as he was with two. But standing seemed harder with just one eye open, so he started to tilt heavily to one side before realizing and nearly over-correcting when he righted himself. He took a step closer to his friend after setting aside the thimble, but stopped after one since the world wanted to tilt more when he did that. "Dance with me again."

Opening his mouth to ask his typical 'because why?', Pinky didn't let it pass when he saw Brain sway about. He only did silly things like that after he'd been hit on the head with something, and the taller mouse was decently sure nothing had hit him. It was concerning at first, however, it was all made clear when Brain demanded that they dance again. "Really, Brain?" His eyes shone as his smile grew. "Oh, goody! Troz! You never ask me!" Taking full advantage of it, Pinky picked him up again, hugging him tightly first, then proceeding to loosen up a little and go back to dancing.

The tightness of the squeeze made him feel a little ill, so the first bit of dancing went by in a haze of him trying to catch his breath and not lose his dinner. But as his stomach settled, it began to tie itself in knots and the warmth returned to his body. The liveliness of the music was slow in comparison to the pace of his heart, but it didn't panic him now. In a daze, he enjoyed it and gave a loopy little smile when Pinky tucked his face back into his neck. He had his arms wrapped around the mouse to keep him close instead of gripping him in a small attempt at keeping him away. "Pinky, is th'room spinning or is that my'ead?" he slurred.

"Poit. _We're_ spinning, Brain." Pinky giggled, Brain's breath tickling his ear. His steps increased in fluidity and slowed some more, since Brain didn't sound too good and he figured it was his own version of another spinning complaint. He hummed softly along to the beat he was following in his head, the outside music not affecting his rhythm at all. "Thank you for dancing with me, Brain." Pinky murmured quietly, nuzzling him close before something hit him. The scent was different. He smelled more like the air around them and the burny drink. Pulling away a little, he looked at Brain, surprised to see him smiling so silly-like. "That drink is making you smell kinda icky, Brain." He pointed out.

"Which is s'why you can't have it," he improvised, lifting a hand to pat Pinky's cheek. He left it there, fingers trailing through his fur. "S'very soft, Pinky."

Pinky swallowed thickly, heat rising to his face so fast he felt a little dizzy, so he averted his eyes lest he stumble and drop them both to the ground. "Umm... thank you, Brain. Your fur's soft too! _Narf!_"

"Mmhm." The megalomaniac closed his eyes since the room seemed to tilt for a moment, and then decided to leave them shut since he didn't feel quite so woozy that way. He nuzzled into the spot where Pinky's neck curved into his shoulder, breathing in his scent with a pleased hum.

Pinky laughed as Brain's nose tickled his neck and felt the hum vibrate through his chest, making his heart play hopscotch. His knees wobbled, no longer dancing really since he was more distracted by Brain's atypical affections, and dropped to the floor to sit. He still cradled Brain in his arms, delighting in the attention. "Are you sleepy, Brain?" he asked when he noticed his friend's eyes had closed at some point.

Brain blinked his eyes open, gazing up at his friend. "No. Why?" He looked about, a little surprised that they weren't moving any longer. He felt as though they were. "We stopped dancing," he observed.

"Well, your eyes are all closed!" Pinky replied with a snort. "Yeah, my legs are all wobbly now, Brain. And I feel all twittery inside!" Keeping his arms wrapped around Brain, he leaned back against one of the tumblers Jake and Tulip left behind.

Brain squirmed a bit in Pinky's lap, wanting to stand but not quite sure how to get to his feet when his head was still spinning in slow circles. He lifted a hand to it, hoping it would make it stop, and focused on Pinky in the way of the very serious or the very drunk. He was used to being the former, but the sloppy way his lips twisted when he fully realized he was looking at Pinky and the way his free hand began trailing through Pinky's soft fur proved rather thoroughly that he was the latter.

And he was entirely too drunk to care. "Pinky," he began, but completely lost his train of thought, so plucked at the edge of the fabric on Pinky's shoulder and left it at that.

At first, the way Brain was looking at him made him expect to be bopped on the head for something-for stopping the dance?-but when he just continued petting him, Pinky was at a loss. Not that it wasn't pleasant, certainly not, it was quite enjoyable, but it was weird. It wasn't Brain-like at all. He wiggled a little beneath him, his tummy doing flip flops like a pancake.

Glancing from his pink eyes to his own shoulder, also a lovely shade of pink, but not quite as lovely in comparison, he waited to see what exactly Brain was going to say to him. When nothing came of it, he actively sought it out. "Yes, Brain?" He hoped he'd use some silly-willy big words, he knew how to deal with a Brain that used big words, he wasn't quite sure how to deal with this one.

Brain managed to get to his feet, using Pinky's shoulder for balance. Something about this situation seemed off, but he couldn't seem to form a clear thought, let alone string them together. He blearily tilted forward, chin dropping onto Pinky's head. Standing was proving to be difficult. "Pinky," he mumbled. "Pretty Pinky."

"Narf?" Pinky tried to look up at Brain, which didn't work when he was resting on the top of his head. A full on blush blossomed on his cheeks and he started twisting his paws in his skirt bashfully. "Ohh... stop it, Brain!" He laughed, definitely feeling gushy at the compliment.

Brain managed, with both hands on Pinky's shoulders now, to lean back. He watched his hands twist in the skirt for a moment before the sluggish idea formed in his mind. "Pinky." He was momentarily distracted by his red face, hands sliding up to cup his cheeks and feel their warmth. "You need another dress. Fabric." There was something else that went with those two things, but Pinky's eyes were so _blue_.

"Oh, I know, Brain." Pinky agreed, feeling all tingly where Brain's hands were. "I was going to make some for tomorrow! Poit. As soon as I visit Miss Tulip's dresses. I'll make them while you draw your boat pictures- _Narf!_ Your boat pictures! I almost forgot!" He knocked his knuckles against the top of his head and smiled broadly. "We still have to do that, Brain!"

The Brain only heard every other word, so stared rather blankly for several minutes until he could slowly nod. "Fabric. Where's she at?" He moved back shakily and turned away, weaving as he scanned the crowd of people. He finally just sat, which didn't help his vantage point. His head, however, was very grateful.

"Are your legs all wibble-wobble too, Brain?" Pinky wondered, getting to his feet and brushing off his dress. When he got to Brain's side, he picked him up again, pressing their chests together as he looked around for Tulip and Jake. He caught sight of them, spinning around in circles too, how fun! They looked so happy, much better than when he'd seen them at dinner. "There they are, Brain!" He pointed over to them. "I'm sure they'll be back over here soon!"

Sure enough, after they had lost their balance and collided with each other, the two humans started making their way back to the table.

Brain didn't bother craning his neck to try and see them, much more interested in his renewed proximity to Pinky. "S'it been fifteen, um, minutes?" He nuzzled into Pinky's neck, consequently muffling his voice and moving his lips against his fur. "Fabric then room. Our room."

Pinky shivered, squirming as he held tightly to Brain with both arms now. "Umm... poit. That depends. How long is fifteen minutes?"

"Not waiting until you get to your room, I see." Jake and Tulip finally made it back over to the mice, looking much more exhausted than when they had left, but with a glow to them almost. The young man looked closer at them, realizing Pinky's predicament. "He can't hold much, can he?"

Glancing at Brain, then back at Jake, Pinky shrugged. "Not really, he is small so heavy things can be difficult. He usually won't because he doesn't like to be squished." Both Jake and Tulip took it as one of Pinky's expressions for being wasted, used to his odd phrases by now. Pinky meant it in the literal sense. "_Narf!_ Miss Tulip, can I borrow some more of your lovely fabric for my dresses? Brain says I need to make some more."

"Nine hundred seconds," Brain interjected, a rather random statement to the two humans, but he'd been trying to calculate Pinky's question and the math had taken him a bit longer than it normally did.

Tulip just shook her head and let out a laugh. The entire night had been a grand adventure and it delighted her to see another member of her social circle among the third class, in love with someone in third class. It gave her a boost of confidence, added an argument for why she was perfectly in her right to be doing this. "Yes." She smiled. "You can use all the fabric you like, Pinky."

"Hoorah!" Pinky cheered, would've jumped except for that he didn't want to jostle Brain since he was already woozy-wibbly enough. "Would you mind taking us up now? I'm afraid Brain needs his crayons and a bed." He paused, taking into account the smell of the burny drink. "And a bath. _Zort!_"

"I'd say that's fair enough, we were about to head out anyway." Jake grinned at Tulip, while he wouldn't have been opposed to staying longer, he knew she had to get back upstairs before people noticed she was mysteriously absent.

"I don't use crayons, Pinky," he slurred, pressing his face back into Pinky's neck now that he knew they'd be getting the fabric. "A bath, yes. And you."

Met with the easy grin, Tulip was just tipsy enough to give a broad one back before laying her hand on the table. "Here, Pinky. Why don't I carry the both of you to my room?"

"Oh, Brain, that's silly! You already have me!" Pinky giggled, hugging him tightly before he looked up at Tulip and nodded. He stepped onto her hand, keeping one arm around Brain while using the other to hold out his skirt and properly curtsy. "Thank you very much! _Narf!_" As they were lifted up, he waved at Jake. "Goodnight, Jake! See you tomorrow!"

"Yeah, goodnight, Pinky." He returned. Jake then took Tulip's free hand and kissed it just as he had done when they first began their evening. "Goodnight, Tulip."

She smiled, lifting the hand to her cheek. "Goodnight."

Brain, on her other hand, clung tighter to his companion as the floor had quite suddenly started to move. It took him a minute to connect floor to hand and explain the new situation to himself and felt a little insulted. He could walk perfectly well.

Pinky rubbed his back, nuzzling him gently. "Naaaaaarf." He crooned, enjoying Brain's clinging. They made it to first class much faster than they would have had they been walking, though Pinky made up for that while he debated between several different colors. He finally decided on making a cream dress and a green dress, in the morning he'd wear whichever one he felt like. He also nabbed some ribbons and other accessories to enhance the dresses. He'd had to set Brain down for this, he couldn't carry him and all the fabrics at the same time. "Hold my tail, Brain." Already in his mothering mood, it seemed like the best course of action. "Thank you again, Miss Tulip!" Pinky led them towards Brain's suite, smiling at her over his shoulder.

She smiled, watching in amusement when Brain tried to walk on his own until a stumble had him falling into Pinky, clinging to his waist. "You're welcome, Pinky. Goodnight, you two. Oh! One more thing, you said Brain was interested in seeing the ship?"

"_Zort!_ Oh, yes! He wants to know everything about it!" Pinky nodded, proud to have at least remembered that much about Brain's plan. He looked down at Brain and wrapped his tail around him since he couldn't very well use his arms.

Brain slurred a complaint under his breath, but ran his hands along Pinky's tail in careful strokes. "The entire Titanic," he put in, weaving in place even with Pinky's tail holding him.

Tulip nodded, pushing back a stray lock of hair. "Alright, then. At ten tomorrow morning, meet me here. We've been invited by Mr. Andrews to have a tour."

Brain recognized that name, but not enough to say for certain. He only gave her a suspicious look and she giggled at him.

"Oh! A tour! How divine!" Pinky exclaimed. "We'll be here! Narf! Come on, Brain! You're all stinky and need a bath, mistah!" He started off again, careful not to go too fast in case Brain fell over.

"M'not stinky," he muttered and would've tried for a bop, but Pinky's head seemed entirely too far away. He was feeling ignored and didn't like it, even though the colors Pinky had selected pleased him. Particularly the cream shade.

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><p>Skimmingsurfaces (lol, stolen) AN:<p>

Here we have a very interesting night for our boys...

And of course we had to get Brain drunk xD  
>Once the idea was there, it couldn't be unseen!<p>

Plus, we realized it would take forever for Brain to realize/accept his attraction to Pinky unless we gave him some assistance xDDD Sorry Brain! But it's for your own good!

And Pinky's... :heart:

Enjoy!


	6. Chapter 6

Can I just say that drunk!Brain is my favorite thing ever?

Besides normal Brain anyway, lol

He's all cuddly and affectionate XD And, at some point while writingthi schapter, skimming surfaces and I decided that we should just change the title of the whole fic to "Titanic: The Fan-Service Fic"

* * *

><p>Once they were inside their room, Pinky set the materials down by the vanity then used his free arms to sweep Brain back up again. "Time to be squeaky clean!" He carried him to the bathroom, pausing when he realized he had to climb up to the sink. "Poit." Blue eyes darted from Brain to the sink and back, then that muscle in his head started to hurt. "Egad, Brain. How am I going to get you all the way up there?"<p>

"M'not a inv..." He'd discovered that the larger words in his repertoire were difficult to say at the moment, so "invalid" was a bit beyond him. He wriggled in Pinky's grasp, not quite ready to forgive him for ignoring him yet. "I can climb."

Pinky rubbed his nose against Brain's to get him to stop his wiggling. It made it even more difficult to ponder all on his own. "But Brain, you can't even say your big silly words!" Let alone walk, but the words seemed more important. "Narf! I know!" He tried to maneuver Brain onto his back. "Hold on and I can climb us both up!"

Scowling, as stubborn drunk as he was sober, Brain wouldn't stay on his back. But he did remove Pinky's wig before tumbling to the floor. He was tired of seeing it and wanted _something_ his way. "No, Pinky."

"Thank you, Brain! I wouldn't want it to get wet!" And Pinky was grateful, but he still needed to get them both up there, and he wasn't clever enough to do it any other way. "Please, Brain? Don't you want a nice warm bath?" He pleaded, putting his palms together and smiling hopefully.

"No," was the stubborn reply. He tried standing, ended up staggering sideways and hitting the floor again anyway. He grumbled something about sea legs and pouted up at Pinky. He looked better without the wig. He looked like _Pinky_ without it. It made it harder to stay mad, but he did his best. "_You_ take a bath."

"I'll take one with you." Pinky replied, as if it were obvious that this was his plan all along. Hands on his hips, he tried his best to put on a scowly face like Brain. "Mr. Grumpy-Pants, you will get on my back and take a bath with me!" That assertiveness training he'd gone through finally came in handy. "Please." Maybe not. "Pretty please, Brain! Don't make me beg!" He grabbed onto the lapels of Brain's suit, easily picking him upright. It gave him another idea thingy! "Or I could do this." He snatched the back of the outfit between his teeth and lifted him right off the ground. "Errrkaaay. Nrrrrf!"

"Pinky!" Brain squeaked. He didn't have anything to hold onto and it was terrifying. "No!" He wriggled, managing by pure accident to get out of the jacket.

Holding his arms out, Pinky caught Brain before he hit the floor again. The jacket fell from his mouth and he hugged Brain tightly. He'd never heard the smaller mouse sound like that. "Sorry, Brain! I'm just trying to help!"

The hug made him feel immensely better, so he decided to forgive Pinky for... Well, he couldn't quite recall what had gone wrong between the dancing and now. And Pinky's scent, since his nose was again buried in the curve of his neck, wasn't helping him ponder. Everything was foggy and he felt wobbly everywhere and, where before that hadn't bothered him, it was now frightening. So he held onto his friend and let the warm, familiar presence calm him down. "You're taking th'bath too."

"Naaaaarf." Pinky agreed, sighing the syllable into Brain's ear. "Yes I am." Taking the time to cuddle with him a little while longer, he waited until he felt the tension in his friend melt away before doing anything else.

In a lightning change of mood, Brain started to try and get down. He was pleased again, convinced that he had all of Pinky's attention. Plus, the proximity had made his heart flutter and he rather enjoyed that feeling. "I'll ride your..." What was it called? "Back. Don't fall."

It pleased him much more than it probably should have, though Pinky always did enjoy the simple things in life like lint balls and wall paper patterns. He helped Brain get situated on his back and smiled at him over his shoulder. "Don't worry, Brain! I'm a good climber!" Even in a dress, he scaled the sink in good time, less than half the time it took to get Brain to cooperate. But Pinky held no grudge, simply knelt down to let Brain slide off his back at his leisure.

Brain took his time slipping down, unsure of his footing still. He ended up stumbling anyway, toppling to the counter. With a grunt, he managed to sit up and frowned at Pinky as if it were his fault. Then something occurred to him that hadn't to that point. "Y'ave to take off the... dress." And for some reason, saying it made him hot everywhere. He was _used_ to seeing Pinky without a dress. They were mice, cagemates. He'd seen Pinky at all states of dress, but it made him feel very odd now.

"Of course, Brain." Pinky laughed, straightening up once his friend was on the counter. He smoothed out the dress, then reached behind him to undo the buttons. "My poor dress would be ruined! _Troz!_" The shoulders came loose, then he undid the sash around the middle. He bent down to take hold of the hem before tugging it over his head. He got stuck half way out though, his arms above his head and the dress flipped up. "Oops." Wiggling around, he tried to shake himself out of it, only to tumble right off the counter. "Narf..." At least the dress was off.

A sound escaped that, even as liquored up as he was, had The Brain clapping a hand over his mouth. _Giggles_. He choked them back, giving himself the hiccups in the process, and started fumbling with the buttons of his shirt. It was harder than he remembered it being and he was staring so hard at the little things that his eyes crossed.

Pinky's head popped up over the the edge of the sink, the rest of him following shortly thereafter. All fluffy and white and without clothes just the way a mouse should be. He beamed at Brain, he'd heard the giggles even from the floor, then went over to the plug the drain so he could fill the sink with water and bubbles. Bubbles were especially important for baths. Taking a seat on the bar of soap, he slid around the bottom of the sink to make it so that the water would turn it into bubbles. As he let the water run, he looked back at The Brain, surprised to see him cross-eyes and still struggling with his shirt.

"_Zort!_ I'll help you, Brain!" He offered, hurrying over to him and batting his paws away. It was also a struggle for him, but at least he ended up with them undone at some point.

Faced with the bath, he found himself not really wanting to get in. And seeing Pinky as he normally was really hadn't helped lower his heartrate. And he'd never needed _help_ with buttons before; why were they so complicated? And he still had bandages around himself that would have to be removed and the scratch might sting in the bubbly water. The list of complaints mounted in his head until he was pouting at Pinky, arms folded across his chest. He decided to address them all in order...until he forgot what the order was. "Stop it," he slurred, the "S" lasting a bit longer than intended.

Pinky blinked, hands freezing on a button halfway down as the fabric bunched from Brain crossing his arms. He turned his blue eyes upward to meet Brain's, still hunched over. "Stop what?" He asked. "You can't take a bath in your nice shirt, Brain. The water will turn it all spongy."

Brain didn't answer right away, distracted by Pinky's eyes again. They shouldn't have been that color... But then he shook his head and grabbed one of his paws, pressing it over his skipping heart. "You keep _doing_ that. And my sto... stomach," he said slowly, spacing the word out. "All the butterflies. S'weird, Pinky."

"You get the butterflies too, Brain?" Pinky awed, his tail wagging as his confusion turned to happy relief. "Poit. I do! It's all fluttery, whirly-twirly fun!" His heart picked up it's pace again as well, matching Brain's as he kept their proximity close. "You don't like it?"

Considering for a moment despite his fogged, sluggish mind, Brain came to the conclusion that if Pinky felt it too, it wasn't as bad. So he leaned forward and let their noses bump. The rest of his complaint list was forgotten. "Pretty Pinky," he mumbled.

Taking that as a 'yes', Pinky giggled at the nose bump. "Oh, Brain, now I feel all guuuushy again!" He covered his eyes with his paws, squeezing them shut for good measure as he felt the blush spread across his cheeks. "Naaaarf!" After rubbing at his face to see that would get it to cool down, he looked over at Brain from between his fingers. His shirt still needed to be taken care of, it was half done after all.

Brain watched him fondly, reaching a hand out to lay it over Pinky's heart. The quick pace seemed to match his own. But then he realized that he was growing somewhat damp, so squirmed and looked down. It took him a moment to connect the wet counter with an overflowing sink and had to bite back another mortifying giggle. "We're getting wet," he slurred and hiccuped.

"Oh, dear. Poit. Stop, Mr. Faucet!" Pinky scrambled to his feet, slipping on the slick surface. He slid right into the faucet luckily, then twisted it off. "Okay, Brain! Bath's ready!" The counter was awfully wet, but he figured he could set a washcloth down and mop it up later. Hopping back over to Brain, he gave him a tight hug, then continued to get his shirt off. "Does your owie still hurt?" he asked as he saw the bandages.

Nothing really hurt, so he shrugged and watched Pinky's fingers fumbling with the rest of the buttons. His tail gave a twitch, the muscles not used to wagging the appendage. A thought occurred to him, very clear amongst the fog. "Pinky! Where's my hat?"

Pinky set the shirt on a dry spot on the counter, then started looking around for the hat. "I don't know, Brain!" It was an awfully nice hat, it would be a shame if they'd lost it! Finally he focused on Brain, his eyes lighting up. "Oh! I found it, Brain! It's on your chubby head!" He giggled, plucking the hat of his head. "I'll put it right here, so it doesn't get soggy! _Narf!_"

Brain reached up, patted the hat as affectionately as he'd pat Pinky. "I like this hat. Do I have to take a bath?"

"I like it too, Brain." Pinky agreed, taking extra special care with the hat since his friend was so fond of it. "And you must, Brain! The smell from downstairs followed you. Plus I put bubbles in it, and bubbles are fun-fun silly-willy!"

Brain grumbled, but managed very carefully and very slowly to get to his feet. There was a minor slip, but he managed to recover right at the edge of the counter before sliding off entirely. He crossed his eyes, looking down at the bandages and started to tug uselessly at them for a few moments until he gave up. "Pinky," he whined.

Pinky scooped him up, moving him away from the edge before he started unravelling the bandages. "It's okay, Brain." Tossing the wrappings aside, he looked at the injury to see how it was faring. It didn't look as angry, but still pretty painful. "A nice bath will help, Brain. Then after we can put on another bandaid and you can start your lovely drawings!" He took his hand and led him over to the water.

Brain tried to see the wound himself, but couldn't so ended up turning in a circle. He refused to release Pinky's hand, however, so ended up bumping into the taller mouse and tripping over his feet. The stumble sent them both rolling into the water with a splash.

Laughing as he popped up through the surface, Pinky began to swim through the bubbles. "Yay! Look, Brain! We can make a bubble castle!" The bubbles had already piled up some, so Pinky just scooped up more to put on top.

Brain kicked, the water a little too deep for him thanks to the overfill. He could touch with his toes if he tilted his head back, but that was it, and his equilibrium was disrupted enough that even that was a little bit of a challenge. So he hopped along the bottom until he could get to Pinky and clung to the mouse's shoulder to keep afloat. "I's really deep, Pinky." He put his free hand in the bubbles, amused by the outline it left behind.

Pinky placed a crown of bubbles on Brain's head, more like a blob really, and then wrapped his arms around him to help keep him above the water. "Narf! Sorry, Brain, I didn't think about all the water." It was hard having to do the thinking, normally Brain gave him specific instructions on what to do. And he wasn't usually this... clingy. "Brain, are you feeling alright? You didn't even bop me for making the water go all over."

"What?" Brain blinked at him, not having been paying attention. He'd been watching the way his hands made patterns in the bubbles. "Watch." He pushed more bubbles down to cover the handprints he'd already made and created a new one.

Happy to receive an order, Pinky immediately followed it, even if his question had gone unanswered. He mimicked Brain and made his own handprint next to him. "Troz! We can make pictures and castles!" He exclaimed, swaying back and forth in the water, rocking Brain a bit.

The swaying and rocking reminded him of their dancing from before, which warmed The Brain from the inside out. He hiccuped, fingers curling into his friend's fur. "A big castle," he agreed.

"Yes, as big as this boat!" Pinky decided. "With lots of yarn and balloons and cheese and sparkly things! All made out of bubbles!" The more he imagined it, the more he wanted to make one. "Can we do that next, Brain? Can that be the next plan?"

In his state, Brain could see no logical reason to refuse. He very carefully lined up his hand where Pinky had put his in the bubbles, still somehow managed to miss entirely, and hiccuped again. "Okay." The water's warmth was making him tired, so he gave Pinky a bleary look before yawning at him.

"Thank you, Brain!" Nuzzling him close, Pinky ended up with a nose full of bubbles. He snorted and blew them away, amused as they floated through the air for a bit. Scooping up a handful, he started to rub them into Brain's fur. He looked so sleepy, it was probably best to make this a quick bath. "You should go to bed early, Brain. You can draw your boat pictures in the morning before the tour!" He massaged Brain's shoulders with one hand, keeping one arm tucked around the smaller mouse so he would remain afloat.

Brain mumbled some kind of agreement, trying to watch Pinky's hand. Everywhere it touched, he felt tingly and hot. His gut was tying itself in knots, his heart beginning to race again. It was an extremely unusual feeling, but a pleasant one nonetheless. He pressed a hand to Pinky's heart, rubbing in slow circles to try and make it speed up too.

His hand slowed momentarily, pausing his washing as he squirmed. "Brain?" Pinky wondered, his heart not waiting long at all before its thump-thumps quickened. The water was getting warmer. "Are you washing me too?"

He hadn't been, but now that Pinky's heart was racing too he was pleased. And baths were for washing, after all. He reached out, scooped up bubbles, and started rubbing Pinky's chest. His eyes narrowed a bit in concentration. "Yes. D'you think you're soft ever... ever-ee... all over, Pinky?"  
>Even though the water-as well as himself-felt much warmer, Pinky shivered. He shook the feeling away, though the heartrate remained what it was, and continued to soap up Brain while enjoying the attention being bestowed on him. "<em>Narf! <em> I think so, Brain." Glancing down at himself, steadily getting covered in bubbles, then shrugged. He started washing behind Brain's ears and the top of his head. "You're nice and soft too, Brain!"

More susceptible to the sensations coursing through him than he usually was, Brain let his head fall forward and relaxed entirely. He still plucked bubbles up, but it was an absent gesture - his aim more on just touching Pinky wherever he could from his vantage point. He plastered himself against his companion, and slid a hand down his spine. "D'you feel all... It's hot." His hand came back up, gliding through his fur. "And tingly..."

"It's like being wrapped a big fuzzy sock." Pinky agreed as his fingers continued to gently massage Brain. He looked so relaxed, not at all as grumbly-growly as he usually was, he even smiled a little bit. It made Pinky's heart swell to know that he could make Brain feel this happy, usually only his really really smart plans did that. While reluctant to do so, since his friend seemed quite sleepy and content, Pinky nudged him away from his chest so he could wash his front. "Almost done, Brain. Then we'll go to beddy-by."

Trembling a bit, Brain just let himself enjoy being washed. He gazed at Pinky, eyes half-closed, and a small smile teased his lips. Pinky's fur was coated in bubbles, and he just had the biggest smile. "You're all... cute an'... bubbly."

Something about the way Brain was looking at him made Pinky feel quite dizzy even though he wasn't even spinning. The urge he'd felt earlier in the evening, to lean forward and... something, returned full force and this time he didn't ignore it. He stopped washing in order to pull Brain closer, touching their foreheads together. His eyes closed and left it at that, the proximity was enough for him, appeasing the happy little tingles. He rubbed his nose against Brain's and sighed. "Naaaaaaarf." It wasn't more than a whisper, but it grounded him enough so that he opened his eyes and leaned back a little.

"Pinky," the megalomaniac breathed, unsure about what to do from there. He lifted his hands slowly, cupping his friend's face gently. "_My_ pretty Pinky," he whispered and hiccuped.

Pinky knew there was something else to all of this, but his brain already hurt so much from having to do all the thinking this evening. He couldn't remember what these feelings meant! The happy feelings began to grow frustrated, Pinky in turn experiencing the foreign feeling, not understanding why Brain wasn't telling him what he was supposed to do. He felt his friend's paws on his cheeks, heard his words, and while they made him happy there was something weird about it all.

"Brain? Brain, what am I supposed to do?" Pinky sniffled, suddenly overwhelmed as he missed their usual routine.

With a small grumble - because Pinky wasn't supposed to be getting upset - Brain wrapped his arms around Pinky's neck and gave him a tight hug. And then he waved in the general direction of the bedroom and yawned audibly in his friend's ear. "Bed. 'M tired."

The grumble was his anchor, that little piece of familiarity gave Pinky something to latch onto and he hugged Brain back. "Okay, Brain." He rinsed the bubbles off them both, then lifted the little mouse out of the sink. Clambering up after him, he remembered that he'd need to dry the sink off at some point. But first, Brain needed to go to bed before he got any crankier. Oh, but wait, he had to make his dresses too... keeping track of things was hard! Shaking his head, Pinky knelt down so Brain could get on his back again. "Time to go down, Brain!"

Brain ignored him, focused on the unpleasant feeling of being dripping wet. He scowled and shook himself hard to dislodge some of the water, but made himself dizzy and ended up staggering right off the edge of the counter. He landed directly on top of his head and stayed that way for a dazed moment before flopping onto his stomach. "...Ow."

"Poit." Pinky straightened and peered over the edge of the sink. "Well, that's one way to get down." He did his own little shimmy to shake the water from his fur before collecting Brain's shirt and hat. A few hops and a considerably less amount of pain later, he joined Brain on the floor. "Here's your special hat, Brain!" Pinky placed it on his head first, even though he was sprawled out on the floor after falling, and helped him to his feet after.

He clung to Pinky with one hand, lifted his other up to the hat. He really did like this hat. He liked all of his hats, but this one was his new favorite. "Bed," he ordered. "Wait." He was forgetting something; he knew he was, but couldn't have said for sure what. He had his hat and he had Pinky and... He couldn't imagine what else he needed. "Bed," he repeated and took a step forward, swooned, and had to lean heavily against his friend.

Practically automatic by now, Pinky scooped him up in his arms and carried him out of the bathroom. "Yes, it's bedtime! We have to get up early for the tour and the drawing! Or was it the drawing and then the tour? Narf!" He crossed his eyes as he concentrated really hard, but he couldn't remember. "Egad, this is hard! No wonder you're all scowly all the time! Your head must hurt a whole lot from all these thinking thingies."

Somehow he got Brain situated on the bed, setting him on the nice fluffy pillow before heading towards the edge of the bed. He was going to fetch his sewing things so he could make his dresses since he wasn't all that tired yet. Oh yes, and mop up the sink. Or was it mop the dresses and sew the sink?

"Pinky," Brain whined, elongating the last syllable, "where're you going?" He rolled a bit until he could sit up, pouting at the taller mouse.

"Just going to get the dresses for the sink, Brain!" Pinky answered. "Oh, wait no... I'm sewing the washcloth!" That wasn't quite right either, but he decided it was easier to just give up. "I'll be right back, Brain! I promise!"

Dresses, Brain recalled and nodded until he was too woozy to do that any longer and just fell back. He pointed at the ceiling. "Dresses! Yes!" He hiccuped, his hand flopping back down. "For my Pinky-wife! Fabric and... stuff." He shut his eyes, odd little spiel finished, and decided someone had switched his pillow for Pinky's third class one when he wasn't looking. It was much softer now.

With a laugh at Brain's strange words, and the way his mind seemed to clear a little at the exclamation he knew too well, Pinky slid down the bed and dashed off to get his sewing things. While he fully remembered he had to sew his dresses, he completely forgot all about the sink. He carried it all back to the bed, setting up shop on a corner farther away from Brain than he normally would've liked, but he didn't want to disturb him while he slept. Once all the fabrics and patterns were spread out, Pinky skipped back across the bed to where Brain was.

"Time for sleep now, Brain." He said quietly, noting that his friend's eyes were closed. Pinky tugged the blanket over him and then hopped to the nightstand to turn off the light on Brain's side of the bed. "Narf. Sweet dreams." Before he left his side to return to his project, he patted him lightly on the head, hoping he'd be more like himself in the morning.

Brain reached up and took a hold of Pinky's wrist before partially opening his eyes, his thumb gently caressing the pulse-point on his wrist. "I like the creamy color. I want that one. You'll sew that one?"

Pinky nodded, his eyes flitting to his wrist as the ticklish sensation registered. But it would be rude to address Brain's hand rather than Brain himself, so he focused on the little bit of pink he could see in his eyes. "Alright, Brain. I'll make that one special just for you! I've already got wonderful idea whatchamacallits for it!" He pulled his hand back, "Goodnight, Brain."

"Just for me." With a small nod, The Brain pulled his hat down over his eyes. "G'night, Pinky." He said something more, but the hat brim muffled it.

Tip-toeing across the bed, Pinky took extra care to be quiet, even muffling his excited "troz" and "narf" as he began to design the cream dress. Unlike the pink one he wore this evening, which was fancy and more high-brow in honor of the dinner they attended, he would make this one a little more fun and flowy. He had to dash away to the mirror twice to see what looked best on him, then started on the snipping and sewing once he was satisfied.

Brain, meanwhile, was growing increasingly frustrated. With Pinky all the way across the bed and sometimes even completely off of it, his pillow was getting less and less comfortable. Despite his exhaustion, and no matter how tightly he'd close his eyes, they wouldn't stay closed for long. He became very intimately acquainted with the inside of his new favorite hat, staring into it so long his eyes grew adjusted to the dim light and he could make out every stitch.

Finally he rolled off the pillow entirely before getting shakily to his feet and stumbling over to where Pinky was sewing. When he was close enough, he let himself collapse, discovered he wasn't close enough, and scooted himself across the quilt to press against his friend's side. "I can't sleep without you," he whined, taking a hold of Pinky's arm.

So engrossed in his stitches, Pinky didn't hear Brain approach until he felt him nestle against him. When Brain grabbed him arm, he just managed to save the thread and keep the line he was working on straight. He didn't want to mess up at all, so he set it down and devoted his attention to Brain. "Poit. But Brain, I have to finish my lovely dress like you wanted." Pinky took a page from Brain's book and patted his hand gently. "You can stay here while I sew if you want."

The Brain started to argue, but paused when he caught sight of the ribbon. He reached out and touched the blue scrap, running his fingers over it carefully. He liked that color. He looked up at Pinky and realized exactly why he liked that color before banding his arms around Pinky's waist and snuggling against him. "I like that ribbon. 'S'it for the just-for-me dress?"

Pinky smiled as he watched Brain admire the ribbon, it had been a lucky find. With his arms free again, he took up the fabric and continued his work, talking while he did so. "Mmhmm! I'm going to put it around the middle of the dress, with the bow in the front. Blue and cream go so nicely together! Zort! Like peanut butter and yams." He glanced down at Brain, noticing that the mouse looked awfully tired still. "I know! Want to hear a bedtime story, Brain? Will that help you fall asleep?"

The idea of peanut butter and yams made him queasy, so Brain crossed his eyes and buried his face into Pinky's side, the mouse's scent relaxing his upset stomach considerably. "Yes. I wanna story."

"Oh, goody! I know lots!" Pinky grinned, turning his gaze back to his needlework. "Once upon a time there was a snail who wanted to go to the mooooon! But he ran out of lettuce so he borrowed some from the three little pigs! _Narf!_" The inanity continued as did the sewing, and Pinky never once skipped a beat as he went from one aspect of the story to another, it all made sense to him. "And after they climbed the beanstalk, they found the yellow brick road which led them to the all-powerful salmon whisperer."

It was gibberish to Brain drunk as it would've been gibberish to him sober, but it was Pinky's voice and his warmth and his scent. As the story went on, Brain slid down lower as his eyes slipped shut, and had his head nestled in Pinky's lap by the time the ridiculous, incoherent tale was told. His arms were still wrapped around Pinky's waist, though his grip was loose and face was now pressing into his abdomen as he slept.

"And when Little Bo Peep told the Blue Fairy that she didn't like green eggs and ham, the beautiful fairy waved her wand and sent all the chipmunks back to Ireland. And everyone lived happily ever after. Troz." By the time he finished his long-winded story, he'd finished his dress. He sighed happily as he held it up to admire it. "Look, Brain, isn't it-" he cut himself off as he looked down at his lap to see his friend fast asleep. "I hope he didn't miss when the cow jumped over the muffin man. That was the best part." While he wanted to try the dress on, he decided it could wait until morning.

Pinky set it aside, careful not to wrinkle it, then gently cradled Brain so he could carry him back to the pillow. This time when he tucked him in, he snuggled right in beside him, falling asleep to the lulling beat of Brain's heart.

* * *

><p>They. Are. So. Cute.<p>

And Pinky really is the greatest storyteller evar, lulz


	7. Chapter 7

The Brain awoke with a construction zone in his mind, multiple jackhammers pounding away at the concrete that was his skull. He dearly wished they would make it through already and kill him quickly. He squinted his eyes open, the darkness of the bedroom a blessed relief. If there'd been light, he would have to seriously injure someone. Maybe he'd injure himself, lop off his own head.

No better was the taste and feel of cotton in his mouth. He smacked his lips and swallowed a few times to rid himself of the sensation, but it didn't help a bit. The _only_ good thing about his current situation was the warmth that surrounded him and the quiet breaths in his ear. He reveled in that for a moment, waiting for his head to stop its incessant throb.

Since there didn't seem to be any sign of it getting better, he quietly extricated himself from Pinky's embrace. He rolled off the pillow, allowing himself a single whimper as stars exploded behind his eyes at even that soft landing, and carefully got to his feet. His stomach gave a violent protest and he quickly pressed a hand over his mouth to keep its full protestation at bay.

What in the name of Madame Curie's microscope had happened the night before to leave him in such a horrific state? He staggered to the edge of the bed, holding his head in his hands, and very slowly made his way down to the floor. A drink of water would cure the cotton-mouth and a faceplant in more water would hopefully clear his head a bit. He needed half an aspirin - or maybe he'd risk an entire little pill - very soon or he was certain he'd be completely ill.

As he made the trek towards the bathroom, he began attempting to piece together the previous night. He was clearly in his own room with Pinky and they were both in their normal state of attire - or lack thereof - so they'd clearly made it back from their walk along the Promenade Deck. No, from the blasted party Pinky had dragged him to. They'd danced and...

Brain pressed a hand to his gut, pausing. Oh, yes, they'd danced and swayed completely out of time to the lively music and it had affected him in several ways. He'd never felt such a... strong attraction to anyone before in his life. Why Pinky? Why, oh, why did it have to be Pinky?

But, yes, the party. They'd danced and that Jake character had irritated him. No. No, Jake had irritated him and he'd taken a few sips from the thimble and _then_ he and Pinky had danced. Yes. And then... And then he'd finished off the thimble full of very potent alcohol. Of course. Of _course_ he'd gotten drunk. He slapped a hand to his brow and gave a despairing moan over the extra jackhammer he'd just hired. "Owww..."

Pinky rolled over in his sleep, taking up the spot Brain left vacant, when his nose twitched. The scent of his friend permeated his senses, even when unconscious, but it was not nearly as strong as it should've been. He tried to bury himself deeper into the covers and stave off the niggling waking feelings tugging on the corners of his mind, it had been late when he finished his dress and it was still relatively early. The lack of Brain made it impossible to fall back asleep though, so blue eyes blinked open wearily and a high-pitched yawn escaped him.

Rubbing an eye, he glanced around for his cagemate and was disheartened to find the bed completely empty. The memory of Brain not being able to walk straight popped into his head for a moment, so he stretched and stood up. "Brain?" He called out, wandering towards the edge of the bed to peer over the side. Nope, he hadn't fallen to the floor. Pinky leapt down, going to investigate the rest of the suite. "Brain?" His ears twitched as he heard the wretched moan and wandered to the bathroom. "You alright, Brain? Did you hit your chubby head again?"

"Quiet, Pinky. I require silence at this moment in time. I'm attempting to reconstruct the previous evening's activities and calm an aggravated migraine. Your questions distract from both." He dropped his hands, sending a glare over his shoulder. "And I told you not to use that word."

No longer sleepy, for it had been chased away by utter delight, Pinky's eyes lit up and he clasped his paws together. "Oh, Brain! Your big words are back! _Narf!_" Completely ignoring the first order of 'quiet, Pinky'. He dashed over to pull him into a tight embrace, now he didn't have to do all the pondering and planning and remembering anymore! And he really did miss the way Brain said his funny words and bopped him. "I'm so glad!"

"What do you mean by that?" Brain demanded, grasping Pinky's shoulders to push him away. He'd just remembered being attracted to the mouse; he didn't need nor want any additional reminders. And the sudden scoop upwards hadn't helped his aching head in the slightest.

After so many of his hugs being accepted and even returned last night, Pinky was a little surprised at first, but a smile quickly replaced it as he took to explaining the events of the previous night. "Ooh, well. Last night fairy dust got all into your head and carried your brain all the way to Neverland! So it could be young forever! _Narf!_" He nodded resolutely, but then blinked as he wondered how it had come back. Tapping his chin lightly, he tilted his head and asked, "Did they send it back because it was too old, Brain?"

"They sent it back battered and bruised," he snapped, lifting his hands to his over-sized cranium once more. It was a relief to know that no one had _told_ Pinky that he was drunk. He was starting to remember that second dance he and Pinky had shared, how Jake and Tulip had returned while they were pressed close and his body had been burning.

As color flooded his cheeks, Brain made his way up to the sink and tried to recall what had happened after that. He sighed, deciding he'd have to at least partially rely on his assistant. "Pinky, did Miss Tulip bring us up to her quarters after we left the raucous party?"

"Yes she did." Pinky nodded, following Brain to the sink, though something about the sink reminded him of something else, but it still had to do with the sink... or at least that's what he thought. "I needed to pick up the fabric to make my dresses! You told me to do it too. It seemed very important. Oh! And I finished my dress, Brain! Want to see it? Oh, wait, you can't yet! It's not ready!" He hadn't yet tried it on, he didn't want to show it off if it didn't lay right, even though he was almost bursting with the need to let Brain see the dress he'd specifically asked for.

Pinky's exclamations were adding knives to the ends of every jackhammer in his head, so Brain scowled at him. "Fine. Just be..." He trailed off, having gotten to the top. "Pinky! Why is the counter so... wet..." He pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes, aching mind rapidly clicking dots together. The details were fuzzed somewhat, but not enough for his eidetic memory to completely stave off.

Clinging to Pinky, whining at Pinky, getting undressed by Pinky, showing him _handprints in bubbles_! Was he four months old? Honestly! And then... "Oh," he said quietly, hands lowering, eyes widening. They'd washed one another and they'd nearly... "Oh," he repeated. Oh, no. He could feel heat flaring in his gut, spreading rapidly through his system at the memory. Such an incredibly intimate moment. He dropped, rump plopping down into the room temperature water as his legs gave out.

He struggled to move passed it, but the scene was burning itself into the forefront of his mind and the details were becoming uncomfortably and embarrassingly clear. He'd even told Pinky how the touches had made him feel and Pinky had... Had shared them. That was a small positive, and at least they hadn't done anything more than that.

Had they? He shot a wary glance at Pinky and carefully went through a mental examination of how he was physically feeling. His head ached and his stomach was still trying to rebel, but that was all. There was no particular... glow about him either and Pinky wasn't being _that_ personal with him. He blew out a relieved breath and allowed himself to carefully pick through the remainder of their evening... including his embarrassing demands for the cream colored dress with a blue ribbon.

"Pinky, the next time I attempt to partake in that... 'burny drink,' you are to stop me. Do you understand?"

Pinky had moved to help him up, just as he had the previous night, but the look he'd been on the receiving end of held him back. He hadn't done anything wrong, had he? Usually that look meant he'd done something particularly stupid, perhaps he was really upset that he couldn't see the dress yet? Or maybe mad that he didn't clean up the counter. Now that he was stepping through the water, he remembered what it was he forgot.

Brain's demand broke through his train of thought, one that both made sense and didn't. "Okay, Brain. It didn't look like you liked it very much anyway, but you kept drinking it. Why? You shouldn't drink something if you don't like it."

"Exactly, Pinky. Next time, you are to remind me that I don't like it. Now go... find out what time it is. We need to be next-door by ten and have a lot to do this morning." He went around the sink, turned the cold water on, and stuck his head beneath the spray without waiting for a response. The frigid temperature helped relax his entire body, even if it did highlight the migraine. He could dearly use that half-aspirin.

"Okie dokie, Brain!" Since Brain's legs didn't seem to be as woobly today, Pinky left him to the sink and went off in search of the clock. He could also try on his dress while he was at it. An ornate, little clock sat on the nightstand, so Pinky crawled up onto the bed to get a good look at it. He stared at it a good while, trying to count the little dash marks. "The thingies are pointing at the seven and ten, Brain!" He called out, then bounded over to his dress.

Slipping it on over his head, he already could tell he liked it. But it was more important that Brain liked it, he did want to do a good job. Pinky tied the bright blue bow around his waist and fluffed out the skirt. Cinching it made it look fuller when he looked down at himself, but he really needed to see a mirror. "Poit." Making sure Brain was still in the bathroom so he wouldn't see just yet, Pinky skipped over to the vanity to admire his figure. The sleeves were short, but loose around his arms which was what he wanted and the bow really did draw attention to his eyes. "Oh, I do look nice!" He complimented himself, giving a little twirl and watching the waves in the fabric.

Seven and ten could mean that they were thirty-five minutes late or two hours and ten minutes early. He dearly hoped, retrieving a small glass bottle of pills, that they were early. He still needed to draw out his sketches of the Promenade Deck, and he needed to make sure that Pinky's dress was suitable for their morning activities. And he really needed this migraine to stop hurting so much. Two hours should hopefully be enough for that. He bit into the aspirin, cracking it in half, and chewed it down to size. The taste of the pill didn't mix well with the cotton and his stomach gave another roll.

He swallowed as quickly as he could and stuck his head under the faucet once more, drinking the water this time, before tugging out a drawer and retrieving a washcloth to dry himself off. He dropped it onto the counter to soak up the water that still remained there and walked over it to brush his teeth and rid himself of the cotton-mouth for good.

He dried off the counter next, sighing at Pinky's inefficiency. How difficult was it, really, to remember to turn off the tap? Then again, the mouse _had_ been helping him undress. Satisfied that the sink was as dry as it was going to get, The Brain leapt down to check on the time himself and hoped that it was early and not late. A tour of the ship would be extremely beneficial to their plans, after all. If he could get in good standings with one of the ship's designers, creating his copies of the _Titanic_ would go even simpler than planned. He'd have the blueprints at his disposal!

He rubbed his hands together, smiling to himself as he made his way to the clock. Early, then. Excellent. "We have two hours, Pinky, to complete a few things before meeting Miss Tulip for our tour. Did you start working on that green dress? We may need one for this afternoon." There was the engagement party, after all, and he needed to make sure that Pinky made dresses that were appropriate for each. If the cream one was all wrong for this morning, he'd have to work quickly on making the green fabric into something suitable.

He leapt down to the floor again to locate his notebook and pencil, continuing to speak as he went. He knew that he'd have to repeat it all again several times, but it didn't stop him. "And I expect you to behave yourself on the tour. You're not to run around all 'fun-fun silly-willy.' You're to stay close to me unless I tell you otherwise. Now let me see the cream dress. I want to see how it looks."

Pinky fidgeted with the dress a little more, straightening the bow and such before deeming it presentable. "Okay, Brain!" He leapt down from the vanity and held his arms out to properly display it for the other mouse. A quick turn around, to show off the different angles, was all he managed to accomplish before he was distracted by the way his skirt moved when he twisted his hips. New clothes were so much fun. Laughing to himself, he focused on Brain and smiled broadly. "Do you like it?"

"Pinky, that's..." Surprising. Brain studied him a moment, stepping forward to run his fingers over the material. The colors worked well together, the blue ribbon an excellent touch. It actually matched his eyes... Pretty Pinky. The alliteration was as true as it was uncomfortable. Clearing his throat, Brain stepped back again and picked up his pencil. "It's stunning, Pinky. Excellent work." And it had been made just for him, he remembered and rubbed a fist over his heart when it skipped a beat.

Beaming, Pinky hugged Brain tightly. "Oh, thank you, Brain! _Narf!_ I'm sooooo glad you like it! I tried really hard." He released him suddenly to hold out the hem of the skirt, admiring the stitching. "It was a little tricky when you were in my lap, but it all worked out!" Letting the dress fall back down, he clasped his hands together and spun in a circle. "I can't wait to show Miss Tulip! And the tour will be so much fun! Do you think Jake will come too, Brain?"

"Pinky, unlike you, Jake has absolutely no way of pretending to be a first class citizen. Tulip's family would recognize him in an instant, whereas you and I only have one another." He paused at that uncomfortably poignant realization, blinked. "Hm. Anyway, I'm sure she'll find you and your dress to be lovely." He plucked up his pencil and his notebook, dragging the latter behind him as he headed towards the desk. "Get started on the next one, Pinky. You'll need it for Miss Tulip's engagement party tonight. I have sketches to complete."

Growing dizzy from all the spinning, Pinky stopped and flopped to the ground with a laugh. His gaze followed Brain as he struggled to sit back up. "Whuu... but why can't I wear this one, Brain?" While he didn't mind making another dress, in fact it sounded delightful, he had grown attached to this one and wanted to wear it for as long as he could. "I can wear the green dress tomorrow!" Then he could ask Miss Tulip for more fabric after that, since he wouldn't want to bother her for it during her party. "What party, Brain? Is it like a birthday party? I didn't know it was Miss Tulip's birthday! Egad, I didn't get her a present!"

"Pinky, you can't wear that one all day. It's typical for ladies of this class to wear three to four dresses a day. The only reason you're getting away with two is that you and I won't be among them enough for them to take notice. Just start on the green one and make it formal. Engagement parties, particularly this one, are incredibly formal." He considered a moment, chucking the notebook onto the chair before climbing up to join it. "I may even need to wear pants. And, no, it isn't like a birthday party. Any present you select has to be for both Tulip and her fiance, Mr. Cam Hockey. They're getting married when we reach the shore."

"No, that can't be right, Brain... she likes Jake. That hockey player isn't very nice and she always makes mean faces at him." Pinky scrunched up his nose. "She wouldn't marry someone she makes faces at."

"Pinky, it doesn't matter that she likes Jake; she's engaged to marry Cam." Rolling his eyes, Brain didn't even bother to explain that his family had made its money in oil... definitely not hockey. "It's a perfect match, financially. More than likely, she won't see Jake ever again after last night." Brain's notebook was thrown on the desk with him following it. "You can ask her yourself if you like, just so long as you do it _quietly_."

Pinky deflated slightly, his giddiness over the dress vanishing in the face of such horrible news. "But... poit, aren't you supposed to marry people you like?" This was all quite baffling; marriage was a forever thing and didn't it make sense to want to spend forever with someone you liked? He picked up his green fabric and other sewing things before going to join Brain on the desk. "Jake and her are friends, I know she'll see him again." He sat down, pinning the start point in the fabric. "They had lots of fun dancing, just like us. You can't just dance with someone and never see them again! It's unsanitary!" It seemed like a good word to use, though it's meaning skewed in the current context.

The unsanitary thing had been being amongst those drunken party-goers in the first place, but Brain didn't want to get into an argument about that when Pinky was actually doing as he was told. "In an ideal world, everyone would marry someone they, dare I use this overworked word, love. Unfortunately, Pinky, we don't. Miss Tulip will marry the wealthy Mr. Hockey as society dictates. Whether or not she's pleased about it is irrelevant."

It wasn't nearly as much fun making the green dress as it had been the cream one, not with this news hanging over his head and no Brain to cuddle with. Pinky pouted as he thought of poor Miss Tulip and Jake, it just didn't seem fair. It also wasn't fair to the pretty green fabric. It deserved to have fun too, but now he didn't want to wear it to the party. He didn't want to go to a party that Miss Tulip probably didn't even want! He couldn't imagine that she did, if he was in her position, he knew he'd be miserable. If someone made him stay forever with someone other than Brain.

He set down the needle and crossed his arms. "Poit. I don't want to go."

Brain looked up from his preliminary sketching, scowling at his friend. Pinky had to go. He'd established himself as Brain's wife, which meant that now they had to be seen together at important soirees. Then again... They'd also established that Pinky suffered from seasickness. If he went alone, not only would he not have to pay attention to Pinky's behavior, he would have a perfect excuse to leave early. Checking on his wife - perfect!

He nodded, going back to his drawings. "Fine, Pinky. You don't _have_ to go."

"Are you going to go still?" Pinky asked, picking up his needle and fiddling with it. He'd still make the dress, he needed one for tomorrow anyway.

"Of course I am. I have to." He rubbed the space between his eyes, head still throbbing. Maybe he'd quiet down with a semi-platitude. "Pinky, when I rule the world I'll make certain that everyone can marry whomever they wish to marry. Will that make you happy?"

While Pinky still objected to him going, the promise relieved him of the sad feelings hanging around in his chest. He much preferred the tingly, warm feelings from last night. Starting the sewing anew, Pinky nodded and smiled at Brain. "Thank you, Brain! _Narf!_"

"Anything for you, Pinky," he muttered, rolling his eyes. He shuffled back to a page he'd done on their first night aboard the _Titanic_, comparing the sketchy layout with the beginning of his layout of the Promenade Deck. "Now will you please be quiet? My head aches, and your incessant ramblings aren't helping matters."

"Oops. Sorry, Brain." Pinky lowered his voice, quietly working on his next dress. He used the blue ribbon as a reference as he put it together. Unfortunately he grew tired of being quiet after four minutes. Abandoning his sewing things for the moment, Pinky hopped down off the desk and went in search of his wig. He forgot where it had ended up last night, so it was probably a good idea that he start looking now. "Mr. Wig?" He kept his voice low as he inspected below the desk, the bed, and the vanity. It was just like a game of hide-and-seek! And Mr. Wig was quite good at it. He thought about asking Brain where it would be, but his brain had been off in Neverland when he'd lost it. Still, he seemed to know about the other things, like the tour they were supposed to go on. "Brain? Have you seen my wig?"

"How should I know where-?" The shorter mouse broke off, and flipped the piece of paper over with a frustrated sound. He'd been sketching _Pinky_ and not the boat. If this newfound attraction was going to distract him from his work, he needed to make it stop. His scowl deepened when he remembered just where the wig was, however. He'd been the one to remove it. "It's on the floor of the bathroom."

"Troz! Thanks, Brain!" Pinky replied, skipping off to the bathroom. Sure enough, it was lying in a heap on the floor. He picked it up and dusted it off. Some of the curls had gone limp and the up-do was a mess. So he took it over to his sewing things, to see if he couldn't find something to fix it. Pinky grabbed a few pins to pick at it and sat down by Brain, peering over his shoulder at the sketches. "Can I see your lovely drawings, Brain?"

"What? Why? Who said I was drawing anything besides the ship?" Instantly suspicious, Brain snapped his head up to glare at Pinky, and their noses bumped. Color flooding his cheeks, the megalomaniac scooted a few inches away and cleared his throat. "That is to say... Fine. But only the ones I've already completed." He shuffled the pages, sliding the ones he'd done of the first class accommodations over.

Pinky giggled when their noses bumped, automatically leaning over a little when Brain moved away. He righted himself before he could overbalance and topple over onto Brain, for he certainly didn't seem to be in the mood for that. "I thought you were only drawing the ship. Poit." Pinky scratched the top of his head, what else would he be drawing? "Oh, these are wonderful, Brain! But where are the chimneys? And the spinny-turny things?" He tilted his head all different ways, trying to see if it would look more like a boat that way.

"That isn't the outside of the boat, Pinky. Those are areas _within_ the boat. The swimming pool, the smoking lounge, the reading and writing room." He pointed at each picture as he spoke. "And this one's the grand staircase. The clock on the wall is rather fussily designed. But here's the actual ship itself." He drew out a fresh sheet of paper and picked up his pencil, quickly drawing the vessel as they'd seen it from the docks before boarding.

Tail wagging as he hovered over Brain to watch him draw, Pinky clapped when he saw the familiar shape. "I want to draw one too! Can I, Brain? Please?" Wig and dress forgotten, drawing was the only thing on his mind now. And the upcoming tour, though only because it was taking an awfully long while to go on it.

Brain pondered the request. They did have two hours, after all, and Pinky wasn't going to need the second dress until the following day. "Alright, Pinky, fine." He handed his pencil over and rose to locate a second one for his own use. "Make sure you don't take any of the pages I've already used."

Fresh sheet of paper already in hand, Pinky started scribbling his lines to form a boat. He made the steering wheel extra big because it was his favorite part, also putting it in the wrong spot. Little squiggles formed Brain, himself, Jake, and Miss Tulip, all having fun on the boat. Well, in his mind they were having fun. On the paper they didn't even look like people or mice. Still, perfecting his drawing took up a good amount of time, until he made a mistake. Gasping, Pinky tried to fix it, but ended up erasing too much of it and smudging the thick lines.

Taking hold of another sheet of paper, one that had been tossed aside, some pencil markings on the other side caught his attention. "Poit." Pinky flipped it over, confused at first since it didn't look like much of a boat, until he turned his head upside down. "Ooooh!" Hopping from foot in excitement, Pinky turned the drawing around and held out the sketch of his own image to admire. "Brain! Look!"

"What is it, P- Oh." Brain cleared his throat, trying to dislodge the lump that had formed. "Yes, well... What about it?"

"It's beautiful!" Pinky hugged it tightly, then handed it over to him. "Oh, please finish it, Brain! Pleeeeaaase!"

"I-" With the picture thrust at him, he had little choice but to take it. "Pinky, I'm busy. I-I really don't have time."

Pinky placed his palms together, a pleading expression on his face complete with flattened ears. "But Brain! You had time to start it! Why did..." He looked over to where he'd found it. "Poit. Were you going to throw it away?"

Possibly. He hadn't decided what he was going to do with it yet, but Pinky looked sad enough that The Brain squirmed. "Of course not, Pinky. I just..." He looked across the room to the clock. They still had half an hour. "Fine, Pinky, fine. Just... get your wig fixed and I'll finish it."

"Oh, thank you, Brain!" Pinky wrapped his arms around him tightly, rubbing their cheeks together. "I'll fix it! I'll make it look really good! _Narf!_"

Brain lifted his hands to grasp Pinky's arms and shove him away, but didn't quite get to the shoving part. After the night before, wouldn't it be less confusing for him to just allow the exuberant embraces? He didn't want to risk having to explain what drunkenness was to the simple-minded mouse. It would more than likely hurt his feelings that he'd done those things because he hadn't been able to think clearly, rather than out of any true affection. He ignored the fact that there _was_ true affection and just let the warmth of Pinky's joy radiate through him until he was abruptly released. The shorter of the two cleared his throat and picked his pencil up anew. "I'm... sure you'll make it look lovely," he muttered, not looking at his companion.

Pinky pranced over to where he'd left the wig, almost bursting with all the warm fuzzy feelings. It was hard to concentrate on fixing his hair, he kept glancing over at Brain and watching until he remembered that he needed to follow Brain's instructions. He decided to leave the curls mostly down, pining it up half-way so it would stay out of his face while they were outside on the boat. Without a mirror, he couldn't see how it looked on, but he figured he could check later. Pinky placed it on his head, a little sideways, then danced around a bit once he was pleased with his accomplishments. "I fixed it, Brain! Now it's curly all over like sproingy-springys!"

The megalomaniac finally looked up from his page; it was a bit disturbing to discover just how easily he could draw his friend in detail. He didn't have to dredge up a picture of him in his mind like he had to do for the boat. The details were simply... there. But now he looked and rolled his eyes. "It's crooked, Pinky. Come here and let me fix it."

With a skip and leap, Pinky was at Brain's side. Instead of leaning over or being pulled down like normal, he daintily lowered himself into a sitting position with his skirt pooled out around him and placed his hands in his lap.

Narrowing his eyes at the change in routine, Brain leaned forward and placed his hands on either side of Pinky's face in order to pull him forward. He was careful not to allow their noses to actually touch, but they were still closer than strictly necessary for him to adjust the wig properly. "There. As lovely as I expected, Pinky."

Pinky's eyes had slipped shut while he let Brain fuss over his hair, enjoying the proximity. They had been nearly inseparable the night before, which was odd but he certainly wouldn't object to it. Though he'd rather Brain keep his big words and plans and thingies while they cuddled though. When Brain complimented the wig, Pinky blinked and beamed at him. A light blush across his cheeks, he flicked his wrist and turned his head away bashfully. "Oh, stop it, Brain!" He laughed to himself, muffling it by biting down on his lip. "I feel all guuuushy!"

"Yes, well... I'm sure you do." Brain nudged Pinky away, leaning back himself to put some much needed distance between them. Why was he always dragging Pinky so close...? He lifted the drawing and offered it, hoping to distract from his own forming blush. "Here. It's finished."

"Hooray!" Pinky cheered, accepting the sketch with a wagging tail. His blue eyes roved over it, it was like looking in a mirror! Only he wasn't in the dress and wig in the picture. He hugged it again, he never got drawings from Brain, usually whenever he saw him doodling it was for all those plan thingies and never for fun. "Thank you, Brain! I'll keep it for always! _Narf!_" He stood up and carried it over to his sewing things, placing it very carefully on the green fabric that was still not even close to looking like a dress. Sighing happily over it, Pinky touched it one last time before jumping down off the desk. "I'm gonna go put on my make-up now, Brain!"

"Good," he replied quietly, rubbing a fist over his skipping heart. He'd been so ecstatic over a simple piece of paper... Shaking off the mood, Brain stowed the rest of the sketches away in his notebook and leapt to the chair and then the floor. He, too, needed to stop thinking of Pinky so much and get back to the task at hand. They had a world to conquer and that was much more important than a frivolous attraction.

* * *

><p>Skimmingsurfaces says~<p>

So, Brain recalls the events of last night... xDDDDDDD  
>Instant Mortification!<p>

I'd had the idea for Pinky's dress for a while lol, in my head he just looks so pretty and adorable (not that he doesn't all the time ^^)  
>And Brain clearly agrees with me. If his drawing is anything to go by ;D<p>

And he'd do _anything_ for Pinky :heart:


	8. Chapter 8

By the time Pinky had finished his make-up, it was almost time for them to meet Miss Tulip and her family for the tour. He'd had to start over twice, simply because he accidentally used the blush as eyeshadow and the lipstick matched his pink dress better. But in the end, he had it perfected. Not too overt, just subtle enough for a daytime outing. "I'm all ready, Brain! Are you?" He looked down from his perch on the vanity, eyes scanning for his friend.

"Yes." He picked up his hat, having discovered it underneath the pillow. It had been a little flattened so he flicked his wrist and popped it out to its normal shape before settling it atop his head. He'd also donned a more casual coat from the one he'd worn the night before. He buttoned it while striding across the floor towards the doorway. "Come, Pinky. If we leave a little early, you may have a chance to speak to Miss Tulip alone."

Pinky followed immediately, practically dancing out the door. "Oh, I hope she and Jake are still friends!" he sighed wistfully, opening the door and leaning against it. "It would be so sad if they never saw each other again!" He glanced across the hall at the quarters the Bakers were staying in, then flitted over to knock on the door. "It's this one, right Brain?" Pinky asked while still knocking, looking over his shoulder at Brain. He knew they had several other doors, why anyone would need that many doors baffled Pinky. Unless they collected doors, then it made perfect sense.

"It should be." Though he wasn't entirely sure if he should go in with Pinky. They wouldn't be alone together and he was, as far as anyone knew, a married man - er, mouse. But was it still inappropriate? He wasn't sure, but he supposed he could say that Pinky had dragged him in. It was true enough on normal days. He closed their door behind him just as the Bakers' door was opened.

She looked upset, but Brain brushed that aside. Her personal issues weren't his business or within the realm of his interest. "Oh." The young woman pushed her hair back and offered a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Hello. Good morning. You're a little early."

"Good morning, Miss Tulip! Brain said we should come early so we could talk to you!" Pinky greeted, bright and chipper as usual. He blinked, seeing that she didn't look nearly as happy as he thought she should. "Is that alright? Poit."

She looked back as if checking to make sure someone had left before looking down at Pinky and nodding. "Sure, it's perfectly alright." She needlessly opened the door a little wider considering their size, but Brain appreciated the gesture and went in alongside Pinky. "That's a beautiful dress, Pinky."

Pinky picked up the hems and swayed from side to side. "Oh, thank you! I made it extra special, Brain asked me to!" He turned to smile at his "husband", then looked up at Tulip. "Your dress is lovely too!"

She ran a hand down the fabric, sighing quietly. "Yes, I suppose it is." She tried another smile before taking a seat at her desk. "And I'm sure Lord Brain appreciates the effort."

Brain cleared his throat uncomfortably before scaling the side of her desk. "About last night," he began, trailing off when she shook her head.

"Right, last night. We can just... forget it ever happened."

"But last night was fun-fun silly-willy!" Pinky followed Brain up the desk. "We made a bubble castle!" He stretched his arms out wide, while getting on his tip-toes as if to convey how huge the castle had been.

Brain quickly clapped a hand over Pinky's mouth to avoid having him tell Miss Tulip anything _else_ that they'd done. "Quiet, Pinky! That isn't what she meant," he snapped and looked back up at the human. "Yes, I agree. We'll forget it ever happened. You were never among the third class passengers and neither was I."

"Agreed." Though even her relief seemed half-hearted as she stared passed them and sighed. "I'm sure you're more interested in today's itinerary than anything else?"

"Yes! The tour's with Mr. Andrews?" And now that his mind was working properly, he could assign a description to the name. Thomas Andrews, one of the ships leading designers. Such a stroke of luck! He rubbed his hands together, a small smile playing about his lips.

Pinky was still hung up about the forgetting about last night bit. Why would they want to forget? It had been such fun! Perhaps it had been because Brain was still worried about being serpentined. It didn't sound very pleasant. When they began to address the tour, Pinky raised his hand and hopped from foot to foot. "Oh! Oh, is Jake going to come too?" he chimed in right after Brain's question.

Tulip lifted head chin slightly, straightening her shoulders. "No. Of course he isn't. He's a third class passenger, and it would be inappropriate." She looked down at the two of them with a small wince. "Not that I mean any offence."

"None taken," Brain muttered, mind on other things, racing ahead. If he could get Andrews to let him get a glimpse of the original blueprints, he wouldn't have to waste time traipsing about the ship to get measurements and an overview; he would have it all right in front of him.

Pinky glanced between Tulip and Brain, feeling quite lost. "But, poit... I thought you were friends." He didn't really like the way she stood after he asked about Jake. Then he remembered how Brain had made him go downstairs and said they couldn't spend time together at first. It didn't mean they weren't friends still, so Tulip and Jake must have decided to do something like that. "Oh, it's so you won't end up florentined, right?"

Brain gave him an absent pat. "Quarantined, Pinky."

"And that isn't it at all." Tulip strode away, standing before one of her Picasso's. "We aren't friends. We can't be friends." She took a deep breath. "I'm getting married, Pinky, and I have to honor that."

A frown tugged down his lips and his brow furrowed. "Umm... poit." Pinky started, then looked down, trying to find the words as he toyed with the blue bow around his middle. "What does being married have to do with who you're friends with?" He raised his eyes again to look at Tulip, his nose scrunching up. "And how come you're marrying that icky hockey player anyway?"

Brain gave him an annoyed look. "He isn't a hockey player, Pinky. That just happens to be his last name. I explained this to you earlier." He looked at Tulip then and studied her a moment before smacking a hand to his brow. Complicated woman had gone and fallen for the third class buffoon - typical. Absolutely typical and incredibly frustrating.

"Tulip?" The door opened and Brain gave a start when he saw the girl's mother. She saw him and Pinky instantly and he stiffly doffed his hat to her. "Oh. Lord Brain, Lady Pinky. I wasn't expecting to see you."

"I invited them along on the tour, mother. I'm sure Mr. Andrews wouldn't mind."

"I'm sure he'll mind that we're late." She gave her daughter a look that clearly said that they would talk later and swept out.

Tulip offered her hand to the two mice to alight upon. "Pinky... Please don't ask about Jake any longer," she requested quietly.

Pinky stepped onto her hand, clasped his hands behind and nodded, albeit hesitantly. "Narf..." She had said 'please'. But it filled him with lots of sad feelings that he didn't like. He knew Jake liked Tulip, and he'd thought Tulip liked Jake, so now he had no idea what was going on. He reached out to grab onto Brain's arm, hoping that bit of familiarity would cheer him up.

Brain allowed it, even laying his hand over Pinky's as he had the evening before when they'd walked along the Promenade Deck. After all, if Pinky were sad he would probably have to come up with some sort of explanation for it. It had nothing to do with the fact that he wanted to keep the mouse close. "Pinky, don't look so upset."

"But Brain," Pinky blinked dolefully down at Brain, keeping his voice low. "It's so sad. They can't be friends anymore."

The smaller mouse made a soft scoffing sound, wary of Tulip overhearing. "They could be friends, Pinky. It's her choice and she's chosen not to be. Jake is a poor, third class drifter with nothing to offer her. Mr. Hockey is wealthy and powerful - a much better match for someone of her station."

"She has a train station?" Pinky wondered, squinting a little. "Well, that's not a very good reason to not be friends with someone." He pondered the rest of what Brain said, the part about having nothing to offer her. "He offers smiles and happiness, isn't that enough? Zort."

"For some, it isn't." Brain shook his head. "I'll explain it later. Right now I need to concentrate. The _plan_, Pinky. Always the plan."

"Right, Brain." Pinky nodded, the fresh reminder of his friend's lifelong goal kept him from discussing it for the time being. Instead he looked back at Tulip. "What parts of the boat will we get to see? Will we see the big turny wheel?"

"Yes, I believe so. Mr. Andrews said that we would be meeting the captain."

"You're not allowed to touch it," Brain quickly put in and then, lower, "Not yet, at any rate."

Pinky tilted his head up slightly, mimicking how Tulip had done so earlier. "I wasn't going to touch it! I just want to see it! _Narf!_"

The exclamation took away from the haughty expression, so Brain flicked his nose sharply. "Be sure that you keep that in mind, Pinky. I shouldn't have to hold your hand throughout the tour to keep you from touching everything."

"Oh, but I like when you hold my hand." Pinky batted his eyelashes, then giggled a little, tightening his hold on Brain's arm. "Don't worry, Brain! I won't cause any trouble!"

Color flooding his cheeks, Brain averted his gaze and cleared his throat. "You'd... better not."

* * *

><p>Flirty Pinky is flirty~<p>

Also, I've realized that most of the even chapters are short XD


	9. Chapter 9

Within five minutes, The Brain had demoted Cam Hockey to dishwasher. Within ten, he'd decided he could shovel coal. By the time they made it to the bridge and the "big turny wheel," he was pondering the idea of throwing him overboard. He was dull, pompous, and kept _looking_ at Pinky as if he weren't engaged. He ended up holding onto Pinky just to keep him from getting any sort of ideas.

It was distracting him from his observations and he didn't appreciate that in the slightest. Maybe he could throw him overboard and convince Pinky it was an accident. It would free up Tulip for Jake, which would make him happy. "It's rather drab up here. All function and no form?" he droned and Brain twitched a little. Definitely throwing him over.

While Pinky didn't entertain such thoughts of throwing him overboard, he did decide that he didn't like the hockey player at all. He was mean and greasy and spoke as if he was trying to balance a ball on his nose like a seal. Seals couldn't play hockey, they had nowhere to put their ice skates, so he didn't understand why he kept doing it. Still, being with the wheel made him happy and took his mind off the unsettling stares he kept receiving from the hockey player. Pinky nervously fiddled with the bow, keeping his eyes trained on the wheel. It was amazing how such a little thing could turn a giant ship.

"I think the wheel is lovely. Poit." Pinky put in his two cents when Cam Hockey insulted the bridge. Really, how rude.

"Thank you, miss." The captain doffed his cap to Pinky, smiling warmly.

Very experienced, Brain knew. This was rumored to be his last sail before retirement and he clearly hadn't lost a ship if he were still standing. "Form can stay below decks where it can be appreciated and not get in the way," he interjected and had Mr. Andrews laughing.

"Done a bit of sailing, have you, Lord Brain?"

He thought of other boats and ships he and Pinky had stowed away on for past plans, sent the mouse on his arm a vaguely amused look. "Here and there."

"But never a boat as big or as beautiful as this one!" Pinky added on, smiling warmly at the captain and Mr. Andrews. He rather liked these gentlemen, they weren't stuffy or seal-like at all. "I must say, we are having a splendid time! You treat your guests very well!" Nodding resolutely, he barely managed to suppress a shiver as he felt those eyes on him again. Pinky shifted so he was slightly behind Brain, gripping his arm with both hands.

A steward approached them, with news of iceberg sightings. Pinky wondered if people watched icebergs like they did birds, maybe the captain was one of them, though he didn't seem too concerned about it all. His warm smile still in place, as if to reassure them, particularly Tulip who seemed the most interested in this news of icebergs.

While everyone's attention was on the captain, Brain turned to face Pinky and pulled him down so they were eye to eye. He couldn't grab him by the snout as he normally would've, not in front of all these people during a ruse, but rested his hand on the back of Pinky's neck instead. "Ignore Mr. Hockey, Pinky. If you hide from him, he'll only grow more interested." And the others could possibly take notice and draw the wrong conclusions. "I'm not going to let him near you. Understand?"

Pinky bit his lip, then thought better of it as he realized it might mess up his lipstick. Still, he seemed rather uncomfortable with the idea. "But Brain, his seal eyes keep watching me! I don't like it!" Still, if Brain promised not to let him near, then there really wasn't anything to worry about. "I understand." He answered, just as the captain revealed that he'd ordered the last of the boilers lit. "Thanks, Brain."

"You're welcome, Pinky." He gave him a gentle pat before releasing. "If it continues to bother you, imagine it's someone else who's looking at you. Someone you'd like to look at you." His ears perked suddenly, head turning, because surely he hadn't just heard Tulip asking to touch the wheel.

But then the captain agreed. "Of course. Any of you can if you'd like."

Brain's eyes narrowed a fraction at the barely concealed grin Tulip sent their way. So much for not letting Pinky touch the wheel.

All his worries about Mr. Hockey vanished in an instant, Pinky clapped his paws together and beamed up at the captain. "Oh, hooray! _Narf!_" He'd get to touch the wheel! Oh, this was turning out to be a great day. Tulip took him with her, lowering her hand so that he could reach out and place his own paw against it. It was better than he imagined. Pinky looked over at Brain, smiling as wide as he possible could, then took his paw back and held it to his chest. Blue eyes sought out the captain again. "Thank you so much!"

He got to touch the big turny wheel of a huge ship, and he didn't even get in trouble for it.

Chuckling, the captain doffed his cap to Pinky once again. "You're welcome, miss. It's not everyday a man as old as I gets to please a lady as lovely as you." He turned that reassuring smile on Brain. "You're a lucky man, sir."

Brain folded his arms across his chest, tearing his gaze away from Pinky to meet that of the captain. "Yes, I know. Pinky's always been beautiful." And he could feel Cam's glare, so decided to throw him overboard onto one of the icebergs.

-8-8-

Pinky found one more thing about this boat that he absolutely adored, almost as much as the wheel. On the deck were all these cute little baby boats. He cooed softly over them, it was as if they were being carried across the ocean by their big, strong mummy. Most of the tour had gone over his head, but he still enjoyed it, especially when he got to see neat things like this. And nice Mr. Andrews was lovely company, he liked that he was the one showing them around since he really seemed to care about his ship.

"Will we ever get to ride in the little boats?" Pinky asked. So far people seemed to like when he asked questions or complimented a part of the ship, and Brain wasn't getting mad either, at least he didn't think he was. He'd yet to bop him on the head for anything.

Brain would've bopped him for that question, however, if they weren't surrounded. And no one seemed to notice the extreme absurdity but him anyway. Mr. Andrews laughed, tapping the side of one as they passed by. "With any luck, Lady Pinky, we won't need these a 'tall. There are twenty of these lifeboats on the whole ship and each one'll do at least 59 people at max capacity. Mayhap we'll lower them when we reach New York, just to show those Yanks that their harbors are no match for our boats." He smiled broadly. "No offense to present company intended," he added, being that he was surrounded by Americans.

Brain tapped his fingers against the back of Pinky's hand on his arm, quickly doing the math in his head. Twenty by fifty-nine was only 1180. Hadn't they left from their Queenstown stop with 2200? Rather alarmed by such an obvious flaw, he nearly missed Tulip questioning Mr. Andrews over the same issue. An entire extra row of lifeboats could've been fitted and had been denied?

He scoffed, hardly noticing that his grip on Pinky went protective. When he redesigned this ship, it would have those extra boats in place. "Waste of space anyhow," was Cam's unwelcome opinion, which only cemented The Brain's own decision. Double the number of lifeboats aboard and create a fake wheel for Pinky to play with whenever he liked.

"Brain," Pinky lowered his voice and tugged on the other mouse's arm. "Is it bad that there aren't enough little boats? I mean, it doesn't seem fair but... poit." He glanced over at Tulip, the way her eyebrows knit in concern and the way she worded her question.

"We should be fine, Pinky. You shouldn't worry about it. You and I are small enough that we're guaranteed a spot if anything goes wrong." He patted his hand reassuringly, then spoke up just to be ornery. "No ship is unsinkable, Mr. Hockey."

Mr. Andrews laughed; he seemed to do a lot of that and it bordered on the irritating. But Cam scowled a bit. "Forgive me, but you seem rather _small_ to know so much about ships as large as this, Lord Brain."

"Not at all." Brain gave him a bland look. "Pinky and I are actually two genetically altered lab mice trying to further along an intricate plot in order to take over the world!" It was the absolute truth that got quite a bit of laughter from all but Cam, whose frown deepened, and Tulip, who disappeared unnoticed.

Pinky laughed a little too, pleased that everyone except the mean ol' seal hockey player seemed to approve of Brain being their world leader. Clearly they all thought he'd do a good job. As the group began to move along to the engine room for the next part of the tour, Pinky glanced around for Tulip, surprised to find that he didn't see her amongst them. "Brain, where's Miss Tulip?" Pinky poked his friend's shoulder to garner his attention.

"Pinky, stop that. Don't poke me." But he did look around for the girl, scowling when he didn't see her. She'd probably done something stupid and run off to find Jake. "Don't draw attention to her absence or you'll get her in trouble."

"But what if she got lost?" Pinky asked worriedly, still taking care to keep his voice down in case anyone overheard. He certainly didn't want to get her in trouble. Fortunately Mr. Andrews was explaining something to them, so the attention was primarily on him. "How will she know where to find us if we keep moving?"

Brain sighed. If she had run off, she wouldn't be finding them anytime soon. That would get her in trouble anyway. "Alright, alright. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to backtrack and find her."

Pinky wasted no time once The Brain gave the okay. He turned about, releasing Brain's arm so he could skip back to the little boat where he'd last remembered seeing her. Maybe she had decided to sit in, he had wanted to, it looked like fun. When he looked around though, he didn't see her anywhere. "Poit. I don't see her, Brain!" He even stood on his tip-toes and held a hand over his eyes as if that would help.

Brain followed at a more sedate pace, arms folded across his chest. It was as odd as it was irritating to discover that the moment Pinky released him, he'd wanted him back. He'd gotten rather used to his proximity through the morning and now his side felt chilled. "She probably wandered off, Pinky. Don't-" He was cut off when the door he'd been standing next to abruptly swung open and smashed him against the wall.

Tulip rushed out. "Don't talk to me anymore!" she cried out and rushed away, the door starting to close behind her.

Brain peeled off the wall like a sheet of paper, drifted a bit, and popped back to his normal shape near Pinky's feet. "We found her," he wheezed.

Pinky watched her run away, almost ready to call out to her to let her know where the tour went, even though she seemed to be moving in the right direction, but paused when he looked to the room she came from. Jake was in there, resigned and thoroughly disappointed and... and sad. He still wanted to be Tulip's friend, but she wouldn't let him. Reaching down to help steady his recently flattened friend, he pointed to the window. "Look, Brain! It's Jake! He still wants to be her friend."

The young man gazed after Tulip, even though she was no longer visible from his vantage point, but didn't make any move to follow her. Her words had been clear.

"Of course he does," Brain muttered. "I told you, Pinky, the choice is hers. Her wealth and position or him. She's chosen her wealth." He lifted a hand to his head, which had renewed its throbbing courtesy of a door. "Now that we've found her, let's return to the tour. They were heading to the engine room, and it's very important that I see it."

Eyes still on Jake, Pinky wanted to go and comfort his friend. If it weren't for Jake, he wouldn't have gotten to go to the fancy dinner or be able to stay with Brain. He wanted to help him, tell him to try harder, surely Tulip liked him. They danced together, it must mean something. But what exactly eluded him, just as it did when he tried to apply it to himself. "But shouldn't we help him feel better?" Pinky asked, finally looking to Brain.

"We don't have time, Pinky. It isn't any of our business, anyway. It's his own fault for falling for her. Now come."

"He didn't fall, Brain. He's standing right there." Pinky pointed out, reluctantly following Brain.

"Not a literal fall. It means-" He latched onto Pinky's arm to make sure he followed. "Never mind what it means. Just hurry up. We're falling behind. You can go and find him after the tour is through."

Pinky craned his head back to look at the little room as it got further away. "Narf." The tic lacked it's usual exuberance, though it did make him feel a little better. Saying 'narf' usually did the trick. "Alright, Brain." He started walking at a more normal pace so that Brain wouldn't miss out on the part of the boat he wanted to see.

"Good." He blew out a breath, mentally cursed himself when he looked back at Jake and then at Pinky. The mouse was as soft-hearted as he was empty-headed and, worse, he was dragging Brain right down with him. "I promise we'll find him after the tour."

Hearing it a second time reassured Pinky, so he smiled at Brain and gave him a quick hug. "Thank you, Brain!" He chirped. Upon releasing him, he took hold of Brain's hand and started pulling him along. "Let's hurry so you can see your whoodywhatzits and finish the tour! _Zort!_"

Back on track. Brain adjusted his thoughts to the plan and quickened his own pace. The _Titanic_ awaited his rule as much as the world itself. "Yes!"

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><p>Skimming surfaces AN:<p>

I'm particularly fond of this chapter because of the "seal" line xDDD It's so fun to be Pinky. I have no filter xDDDD Thanks for putting up with it, [Syl] :heart: I will purposely be as annoying as possible to get Brain to bop him.

And Brain's protectiveness as the greasy seal man stares at his Pinky 3 how sweet, Brain! And I think it was here where we decided there hadn't been enough squished Brain in this fic xDDDDD

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><p>My AN:<p>

It was this chapter where we decided that XD

I love you as Pinky, darling! Bops ahoy XD


	10. Chapter 10

Y'all (assuming people read this?) get two chapters back to back because I'm leaving for MEGACON soon :D MEETING TOM FELTON AND STAN LEE (and others)

WOOP WOOP

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><p>They'd found the human as promised, and he at least seemed willing to cooperate with Pinky's attempts at cheering him up. Still, Brain disliked how casually he leaned against the railing and kept a tight grip on Pinky to keep him from following suit. He didn't need <em>another<em> heart attack.

Jake reassured Pinky that he'd be okay, putting on a smile to try and convince him, but Pinky could see that his eyes still held hints of regret and bitterness. "But Jake, I'm sure she'll come around! Why, any moment she could come over here looking for you and want to be friends again! Troz! You're such a nice person, she'd be silly not to!"

"Thanks, Pinky, but she's made her decision. I just have to deal with it, accept it." He snorted, looking from the little mouse out across the ocean. "Let's face it. I'm no Cam Hockey." As he said this his face scrunched a little in distaste.

"Well that's a good thing." Pinky chimed in. "He's a greasy, seal man."

Jake had to chuckle at that, but it was still tinged with disappointment. Pinky sighed, then looked to Brain for help. He was smart, he usually knew what to say.

Brain looked up at Pinky, noted Pinky's big-eyed stare, and scowled. "What?"

"Help him find his smile, Brain. Please?" Pinky snuggled up to Brain's arm, his eyes pleading. "Use your big silly words to make him feel better."

"Such as _Schadenfreude_?" Brain grumbled, flicking Pinky's nose to make his snout wobble in defense against the snuggling. "Pinky, I highly doubt anything I would have to say will cheer him up."

Pinky laughed at both the word and the way Brain flicked him. "Oh, but you're very good at it! _Narf!_" Having no idea that the flick was to keep him from snuggling, Pinky leaned down to rest his chin on Brain's shoulder. "You make me feel loads better when you say blah-blah-blah words." His ears twitched suddenly as he heard someone approaching from behind. Straightening up, Pinky glanced behind him to see who it was, brightening up as his eyes fell upon Tulip with a happy gasp.

Thankful for the distraction even while he sighed over the stupidity of humans, Brain hedged back from Pinky. "There. I'm sure she'll make him feel better than I ever could." Assuming she wasn't there to tear him down further, at any rate, though when she said she'd changed her mind, he suspected that wasn't the case.

Pinky stepped back to let them have their moment. Oh, he knew they'd still be friends! Giddy from the light, bubbly feeling in his chest as he watched Jake reach out to Tulip, he swayed from side to side still attached to Brain's side. Jake helped her onto the railing, requesting she keep her eyes closed, and held tight to her waist as he stepped up behind her. It looked like an awful lot of fun, why wouldn't Brain let him on the railing too? He'd be careful.

"They look so happy, Brain." Pinky sighed, giving Brain's arm a squeeze.

"They look like fools," Brain muttered, but didn't try and push Pinky away. It clearly wasn't working with him acting like a leech. The two humans started laughing and Brain shook his head. Suicidal fools. One slip and gone.

"I want to fly too!" He giggled, seeing their arms outstretched. He mimicked them, thus finally giving Brain's arm a chance to circulate blood through it, and spun around in a circle, his dress fluttering about in the breeze.

"Be careful, Pinky. We're still uncomfortably close to the edge." Brain watched him carefully, just to make sure he didn't fall. The way his heart was skipping had nothing to do with it. "We should give them their privacy, anyway."

Pinky kept on twirling, though he minded Brain and stayed away from the railing even though he really wanted to look over it. He kept his focus on the couple, smiling broadly at them until their lips met. He stopped so abruptly he fell flat on his face. When he looked up, his eyes drawn to their passionate kiss, Pinky was reminded of something and that something was what had startled him. He pushed himself up into a sitting position, then looked over his shoulder at Brain. His blue eyes stared at him for a minute or two, just looking, then finally they lit up as it hit him. All the tingly, warm feelings and the urge to lean in to the other mouse could be explained.

His bright smile had returned and he stood up, admiring the love between Jake and Tulip. "I know what comes next now, Brain!" Quite proud of himself, Pinky skipped back over to Brain, with a little extra flailing thrown in for good measure and no regard for his proximity to the edge of the ship. "I get it! I figured it out! _Narf!_"

Brain had no idea what Pinky was talking about, had been pretty sure that he'd injured himself from the abrupt fall, and now that he was flailing so much, the megalomaniac was irritated and worried. He grabbed Pinky's snout and jerked him down to eye level. "That's wonderful, Pinky. Now stop before you hurt yourself. Let's go. The two of them clearly want to be alone and it's getting dark."

"Okay, Brain!" Satisfied with their renewed friendship and his own revelation, Pinky was completely agreeable. And being at eye level was just what he wanted! Though it was somewhat difficult to maneuver with Brain gripping his snout, he managed to inch forward so at least their noses touched.

Uncomfortable, Brain released him and took a step back. "Now then, we're going to return to our room. I'm sure you have some leftover fabric to make yourself a wrap or something to protect against the cold."

Pinky looked after him, confused and a little disheartened. That wasn't how it was supposed to go. "But Brain," he whined, closing in on him once more, leaning in to be at eye level again. "Isn't this how it's supposed to go?"

"What are you talking about, Pinky?" Eyes wide, heart thumping, Brain lifted his hands to Pinky's chest to keep him at a distance. "Let's return to our room."

"Aren't we supposed to be in love? Isn't this what they do? Poit." Pinky attempted to explain. Brain had seemed to be on the same page as him last night. "And you said I was supposed to behave like Miss Tulip. You did, Brain. I remember." He nodded resolutely, then tried to get closer, but was prevented by Brain's hands. "I'm sorry I forgot last night, Brain. I really am."

"Las..." His ears fell back. "Oh." He glanced towards the two humans again, locked together, and turned red to the tip of his tail. "Pinky, that... Maybe later." He patted Pinky's cheek, taking another step back. "We have things to do right now."

Though he didn't know the name of the feeling, Pinky experienced the rejection acutely. He looked down at the ground, wondering why it wasn't working out, but maybe it was just because they were busy. Finally Pinky lifted his gaze. "Promise?" If they could do it later, he'd be fine with it, it meant Brain still wanted to.

Promising a maybe was still just a maybe, he assured himself. He didn't _really_ want to kiss Pinky. They were in the middle of a plan. They didn't have time for things like this. If not for the tour, he'd be ridiculously behind thanks to the previous night's antics. _Supposed to be in love. _"I... Of course. I promise. Maybe later. Now just... just come along."

Pinky perked up in record time, his ability to bounce back from a variety of different emotions still strong. "Oh, thank you, Brain!" He initiated one of his usual embraces. "I love you!"

"I-" He made inarticulate sounds that nearly sounded like he was returning the sentiment before pushing him away. They didn't have time for this and it was all the fault of those _humans_! "Come, Pinky." He scowled, adjusting his jacket. "There's work to be done."

"Okay, Brain!" Pinky released him, smiling brightly and skipping away in the direction of their room. "What're we gonna do tonight?"

"Since the engagement party is clearly not going to occur after that display, I have another idea that should cut our time down. I'll continue with the sketches for now, but when Andrews leaves to go upstairs to the party, you and I will sneak into his room and get a hold of the blueprints." The Brain followed, pleased that they were getting back to the plans. "You need to make a wrap or a jacket of some sort. I don't want you getting cold while we're out."

Pinky nodded, already feeling a little chilly with his short sleeved, light fabric dress. "I have some leftover blue fabric that will look lovely!" He waited for Brain to catch up, but not moving about made him conscious of the cool air. So he continued to hop about in place, latching onto Brain's arm when he came close enough so at least half of him would be warm.

Brain noticed the shivering and sighed, shaking Pinky off to remove his jacket. It wouldn't provide much warmth, considering their sizes, but it was better than nothing for the trek back. "Here. Put that over your shoulders for the time being."

"But won't you be cold, Brain?" Pinky asked, hugging himself as he eyed the jacket.

"I have the shirt underneath, Pinky, and with you hovering over me providing additional warmth, I'll be fine. You, on the other hand, are already shivering." He waved the jacket. "Now don't argue with me, Pinky. Just take it."

"Poit." Pinky trusted him that he wouldn't be cold, so he took the jacket and draped it around his shoulders. "Thanks, Brain."

"You're welcome." He took Pinky's hand and linked their arms, moving quickly across the deck because it was rapidly growing colder as darkness fell. The North Atlantic in April - who's brilliant idea had _that_ been?

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><p><em>That was the last time <em>Titanic_ ever saw daylight..._

__Uh-oh. Guess what's coming up...

Angsty angst that it angsty!


	11. Chapter 11

Upon entering their room, Pinky was dismayed to find that it wasn't the right shade of blue. He didn't really have any fabric that would go nicely with his current dress. His fingers toyed with the blue bow around his middle, eyeing the spread of colors with a concentration normally not characteristic of him. Finally he pushed them all aside and strode over the the door, intent on leaving their quarters. "I'm going to ask Miss Tulip if she has something in this shade." He called out, it wouldn't do to just get frustrated over his lack of acceptable colors, so he'd find some.

Brain started to wave him on, his own concentration directed towards his sketch of the bridge. He was on the wheel now, trying to remember proportions rather than how delighted Pinky had been when he'd been able to lay a paw on the thing. But then he blinked, ears perking. "What? Pinky!" The last thing he needed was for Pinky to walk in on something he really shouldn't. He'd already tried for a kiss; what would he try if he saw them-? Brain leapt up, quickly leaping down from the desk. "Wait."

The door already open, Pinky glanced back at Brain from where he leaned against it. "You want to come too, Brain?"

"It's... Yes. It would be rude to drop in unannounced on your own," he improvised. "Besides, Miss Tulip and Jake may be... busy with their own activities."

Smiling, Pinky nodded. "Okay, Brain. And don't worry, I won't be long, so if they're busy I won't take up much time. _Zort!_" With that, he walked across the hall and knocked on the door. He waited for a few minutes, but no one answered. Knocking again, Pinky looked at the other door down the hall. "Is this the morning door only? Do they have a special nighttime door?"

"No. They're either busy or not in there." Brain shook his head and started to squeeze beneath the door, but his head got stuck. He scowled. "Help me, Pinky. And don't follow unless I say you can."

Pinky giggled, gladly pushing down on Brain's head in an effort to get him through. "Your chubby head too chubby, Brain?"

"I told you not to use that-" With a loud _pop_ he was through and on the other side, rolling on the carpeted floor. "-word," he finished once he'd come to a stop. Frowning, he began to look around and, after a few minutes, deigned the room empty. He pushed the door open and beckoned. "Come, Pinky, and quickly. We'll find some fabric and return to our room."

Having been in there twice before, Pinky knew exactly where to go for the material. "I'll have to leave a note, Brain. To let her know I borrowed some, otherwise it would be stealing." He chided as he dug through some various fabrics, holding up his bow as a guideline. "Want to help, Brain? I need to find a color that looks like my eyes. Poit."

"It isn't stealing if she's already said you can have some," Brain muttered, but came over to find the correct shade of blue. He grabbed Pinky's muzzle and pulled him down, needlessly double-checking the color. He knew the correct shade, but he hadn't yanked on Pinky in a while and the lack felt odd.

Blue eyes gazed back into the pink ones observing them. He'd have to make a dress in that color too, it was beautiful and made his heart skip around. Was it later yet? Upon being released, Pinky wiggled his nose a little before looking down at the blue in his paws. No, it was too dark. He tossed it aside, trying to ignore the flutters in his belly since he figured it wasn't that much later yet. Brain hadn't finished his drawings and he was pretty sure he had said after that.

Brain was frowning as he dug through the pile, glancing at Pinky again and again even when he knew the shade was completely off. It gave him an excuse to look, though, to Pinky and to himself. _Pretty Pinky_ - it ran through his mind again, unbidden and unwelcome, and he was feeling uncomfortably warm despite the temperature of the room. He tugged at the collar of his shirt, vowed not to look at his companion again until he'd found the correct blue shade, and looked up again anyway with the next color.

He started to discard it in disgust, but paused and looked again. Oh. He rose and moved closer to Pinky, taking one cheek in hand to turn his head and hold the fabric up to the other side of his face. "There. This matches perfectly."

Pinky felt his heart speed up, heat rising to his face. "Naaaarf." He couldn't tear his gaze away to examine the fabric for himself, he trusted Brain. All he wanted to do right now was kiss him. Pinky would've leaned forward, at least that's what he believed, but he heard the door open and it startled him right out of the warm, fuzzy feelings. "What if it's the seal man?" Pinky grabbed onto Brain in his panic.

Brain was startled right out of his own thoughts - _Perhaps... _- by the grab, so had to swallow painfully at the abrupt closeness. He looked up; their noses bumped. Brain quickly had to push away. "It won't be. He'll still be preparing for the engagement party. But now you can tell Tulip that you're taking new fabric." But then he heard Jake's voice and blinked. Oh, dear.

"Oh, Jake's here!" Pinky clasped his hands together and went to go say 'hi', but paused when he saw they were engaged in conversation. Something about lighting and being an artist. "I think he's going to draw Miss Tulip, oh, he is a good artist, Brain!"

"Yes, yes. Keep your voice down." Brain's attention had gone to Tulip. Her words didn't interest him - something about Cam and cigars - but what she held did. She'd gone into an adjacent area and had, if his ears weren't failing him, opened a safe. Why?

When she held a necklace out to Jake, he stood on his toes, pressing down on Pinky's head as if that would give him any extra leverage. He was lucky that the bureau they were on was rather high up or he wouldn't have been able to see the bright blue stone. A diamond, Tulip said, and his pupils went to dollar signs. It was _enormous_.

"Ooooh... it's a big sparkly heart!" Pinky awed over it, even as he was pressed down by his friend. "It's really pretty, Brain." He was sure it would look lovely on Tulip, though he was surprised when she asked to be drawn in only the necklace. "_Troz! _ She'll still be wearing her clothes, right Brain?"

"What?" Drawn out of his reverie - that diamond was priceless; he wanted it - Brain scowled down at Pinky, dropping to the flats of his feet and releasing him. Tulip walked out of the room, taking the necklace with her, and his scowl deepened. Perhaps they'd get it from her after they took over the ship.

"Will she still wear her clothes?" Pinky repeated, rolling his shoulders and neck to relieve the pressure from being leaned on. He was then distracted by Jake rearranging the furniture and getting out all of his sketching supplies, sharpening his lead.

Brain looked from Jake to the door Tulip had gone behind and it dawned on him what Pinky was asking. He grabbed the mouse's dress and hauled him closer needlessly. "What does Jake draw, Pinky? You saw his drawings; what does he draw?"

Pinky smiled broadly and waved his arms around. "Oh, so many lovely things! Mostly very beautiful ladies." He nodded, recalling some of the images he'd been shown.

Brain smacked a hand to his brow. Of course. How could he have forgotten that Jake was a reprobate? He grabbed Pinky's hand just as Tulip opened the door again in a robe and, Brain suspected, only the robe. He very quickly snatched up the fabric and started dragging the mouse down the bureau. "Come, Pinky, we've _clearly_ overstayed our welcome."

"Aw, but I want to see his drawing!" Pinky whined as he was tugged away. He looked over his shoulder just in time to see the robe drop. "Oh dear. Poit. It's going to be one of _those _drawings." He looked away, it would be rude to stare, focusing instead on the fabric Brain had chosen. "That's pretty, Brain!"

"Of course it's pretty," Brain muttered, more focused on exiting than on his words. "It's the color of your eyes, isn't it?" He opened the door, dragged Pinky out, and very quietly closed it behind them.

Pinky brought his free hand to his cheek, ducking his head. Brain was just full of compliments lately! They should go on more boats, it was a good thing his plan for world domination involved them.

Brain didn't pay any mind to his reaction, face burning. He'd seen the robe fall as well and couldn't _believe_ Pinky would befriend people like that. He'd seen no negativity in either of them, certainly, but to allow yourself to be drawn in the nude by someone you weren't even married to? That went well beyond his comfort levels. While it would've been perfectly normal for him and Pinky as that was their natural state, despite the genetic modifications (nothing... personal showed), it was _not_ normal for humans. At least not in a proper society.

He tugged Pinky into their room, shutting the door behind them before he dragged Pinky down to eye level. "The next time we see either of them, you are not to mention our presence there. We never saw that. We know nothing about it."

Blush fading, Pinky nodded in understanding. "Oh, I know, Brain. That was private!" He sing-songed the last word, revealing that he didn't really understand why exactly it was private, but still got the gist of it. More or less.

He was aware that being naked, unless one was a mouse, wasn't appropriate for humans which was why they got to play dress-up when they needed to mingle with them, but as far as his friends were concerned, Tulip was just modeling for Jake. She was very pretty, so he didn't blame Jake for wanting a drawing of her along with his others. Some of them had been naked too, not all, but some. Enough for Pinky to close his eyes before carefully peeking to make sure they were decent. Those women hadn't given him permission, so surely he shouldn't look. Just as Tulip hadn't given him permission.

"Can I make my dress-wrap-thingy now, Brain?" He asked, looking to the fabric he still carried.

"Yes." Glad that he understood, Brain gave his cheek a pat before turning away to get back to his sketches. "Try and have it finished in an hour, Pinky."

"Yes sir, Brain!" Pinky saluted, prancing off to gather his sewing doo-dads. It wouldn't take him long at all to make a lovely wrap for his dress. A snip here and there, he'd make it long enough so that his could double it over and keep extra warm. He didn't want Brain to have give up his jacket again. He glanced over from where he was working to gaze at the shorter mouse for a little bit. Something akin to nervousness twisted in his belly. What if later didn't happen? Pinky shook the thought away. Brain promised! And unless something happened that would distract him from it, like cheese soup, he would hold him to that promise!

Feeling eyes on him, Brain very purposely didn't look up. He'd looked at Pinky more than enough for one evening and the last thing he needed to do was give his sidekick anymore ideas. He had drawings to focus on and work to do, so stubbornly kept his gaze averted until he realized that he'd drawn a little hand on the wheel.

With a frustrated sound, he snapped his head up and found that Pinky wasn't even looking at him any longer. That, for whatever reason, irritated him even more, so he rose and took the few steps to Pinky to remove his wig and fluff the usually messy fur atop his head. "You don't have to wear that when we're alone," he grumbled and went back to his sketches. He left the hand - he could use it as a reference to scale - but moved on to the engine rooms.

Pinky hadn't expected that and just stared after Brain. "Umm... poit." He touched the top of his head, he'd honestly forgotten that he had it on to begin with. With a shrug, Pinky went back to finishing his wrap. When he deemed it suitable, he danced over to the vanity so he could take a look at it in the mirror. At first he just held it out to examine it, but after some time he started to make silly poses. He laughed to himself after each one, having a great time pretending to be a lady.

Noticing his make-up had started to smudge and fade away, Pinky decided to touch it up some while he was at the mirror. When he got to the lipstick and puckered up his lips, he paused to observe his reflection. He smacked them together a few times, like one was supposed to when spreading the color evenly, then made several 'kissy' faces. Most of them were quite funny and sent him into several long-lasting giggle fits.

"Oh, you're so fetching in that dress!" Pinky told himself, then batted his eyelashes. "Why thank you! You're not so bad yourself! _Narf!_" The sound of something snapping reached his ears, startling him out of his little game for a moment. Blue eyes met their reflections. "Did you hear that? Yes, I did, poit. I'm gonna go check it out. Ta-ta!" He placed his lips against the mirror with a loud smack, then skipped away with a chuckle, hopping off the vanity.

Brain glared at the broken lead of his pencil as if it was its fault. He'd been leaning heavily against his pencil, staring at Pinky, and had been since he'd decided to freshen his lipstick. Not all of those kissy-faces had been silly and he'd been distracted enough already thanks to the poses. He began bashing himself over the head with the pencil, trying to quite literally knock some sense into himself. This attraction had to stop, stop, stop. Or at least be set aside until he was ruler of the world and could do whatever he liked, including Pinky.

He froze entirely as that thought passed through his mind, eyes springing wide and latching onto a very curious, much too close blue gaze. He snapped back suddenly enough that it was more of a fall and whapped his head against the desk's surface. "Owww..."

"Whatcha staring at, Brain?" Pinky asked, his arms behind his back and his tail swishing innocently behind him as he leaned over just a little. His friend's reaction had been pretty funny; he'd been sitting quite still until he noticed Pinky's presence, then he moved so fast!

Brain scooted back quite a ways before getting to his feet. "Nothing," he snapped. "I wasn't staring at anything ever! I don't stare at things, Pinky." He turned and glared at his friend, very firmly placing him in that category. But then he just had to go and remind himself that he thought Tulip and Jake were just friends and groaned, dropping down and covering his eyes. "Pinky, what am I to you?"

The snap had startled Pinky, sending him back a few steps, staying near to the edge of the desk. He watched him, fiddling with his bow nervously until he posed the question. "You're... you're my friend, Brain." He replied, confused as to why Brain would be questioning something so obvious. Pinky took a few steps closer, hands still wringing the bow. "You're my best friend. Poit."

That didn't answer anything, so Brain smacked himself in the brow a couple of times before taking a deep breath and carefully blowing it out. He'd just go back to ignoring the attraction and everything would be fine. The plan; always the plan. "I'm sorry I startled you, Pinky."

Pinky's brow furrowed in concentration. "I'm your friend too, aren't I, Brain?" Just to be safe, maybe Brain's brain had gone back to Neverland.

Bran sighed and stepped forward, patting Pinky's waist. "The dearest friend I could ask for, Pinky."

His worries quelled for the time being, Pinky smiled and gave a little twirl. "Hooray! So what are you working on then, Brain?" He was still curious, pencils didn't just snap for no reason.

"The engine rooms. They aren't going as easily as I'd expected," he muttered, which wasn't exactly a lie. They were easy enough to sketch out if he focused, but he was having trouble focusing thanks to the distracting behavior of his mate. Cagemate. Friend. His eye twitched slightly. He didn't have time to train his mind to filter out certain descriptive words. And being alone with Pinky was doing him absolutely no good. He plucked up Pinky's wig and gestured for him to lean down. "Let's go, Pinky. I assume your wrap is finished?"

Pinky held his arms out as he leaned over, to show off the wrap he draped over them. "Right here, Brain! Are we going to go borrow Mr. Andrews' drawings now?"

"We're not going to borrow them, Pinky. We're going to look at them. He would notice if they were gone, I'm sure. For a human, he's relatively intelligent." He made sure the hair was straight, leaving his hands on Pinky's face a moment longer than necessary. "What you lack in IQ, you make up for with talent," he murmured, the backwards compliment his way of apologizing for his previous behavior. "You did an excellent job on both wrap and dress in a very short amount of time."

He tried very hard to contain the butterflies, but they tickled so much he couldn't help but let a few giggles escape. "Oh, thank you, Brain! I tried really hard! Troz!" His cheeks tingled, so he placed a hand on one, brushing against Brain's as he did so. "I'm glad you like them." He really was, since he made them with the shorter mouse specifically in mind. The apologizing was not necessary, for in Pinky's mind nothing had occurred to warrant such a thing, but it was nice to hear all the same.

Brain cleared his throat, heart knocking almost painfully against his ribs. Warmth seemed to spread from the hand Pinky had touched throughout the rest of his body in record time. "I know how hard you tried." Mentally swearing at the way his body betrayed him, he swayed forward and let their noses touch. "Thank you, Pinky."

Swallowing thickly, Pinky realized breathing was rather difficult. His eyes crossed for a moment when their noses first touched, then they slipped shut and he bit his lower lip. The urge to get closer came back strong and suddenly, he leaned forward just a touch, but stopped when he recalled when he'd tried earlier and how much that had hurt. He'd ask first this time. "Brain?" The sound of his own voice would've surprised him if he wasn't so distracted by how warm he was, it sounded like he'd been running on the wheel an awfully long time. "Is it later yet?"

The inclination to answer in the affirmative and lean forward was almost too much to bear. The Brain's entire body began to tremble against his will, fighting the hesitation. He _wanted_ and it was becoming frightfully close to a need, but he couldn't. If he kissed Pinky, he'd never be able to take it back. It was better to avoid that step and put off "later" as much as he could. His voice was heavy with a regret he didn't want to feel when he finally responded, hands sliding from Pinky's face to his shoulders. "Not... not yet, Pinky."

Pinky couldn't help the whimper of disappointment and frustration that escaped as he opened his eyes. All the fluttery feelings were getting to be overwhelming, so he simply rubbed their noses together before pulling away. If later didn't come soon, Pinky didn't know what he'd do! Busying himself with straightening his dress, he didn't look at Brain for a little while, just to make sure his heart wasn't dancing so quickly and his stomach didn't feel as woogly.

Grateful for the distance even as he wanted to close it again, Brain lifted a hand to his nose and let it hover a moment before sighing. He turned away from Pinky and plucked up his hat, brushing imaginary lint from it before placing it on his head. "Come along, Pinky. We, ah... The plan." After the plan. After they had the Titanic and after he had the world. Pinky could have all the laters he wanted.

Sniffling, Pinky nodded, finally looking up to meet Brain's gaze. "Right, Brain." His voice sounded a bit more normal this time around. "_Narf!_"

"Good." He considered offering his arm, but thought better of it and leapt to the floor. They wouldn't need to be pressed close together unless they went onto the deck. With any luck, they wouldn't need to get to the deck anytime soon. "Now come. We'll have to be careful if Andrews is in his room after all." They were leaving a bit earlier than he'd planned, but ahead of schedule was better than behind it.

Pinky followed, the return to routine taking his mind off their encounter and soon enough he was skipping ahead of The Brain to the door. He opened it and poked his head out, not seeing anyone at first but he could hear the sound of feet running quickly. Turning to the left, Pinky's eyes widened as he saw Tulip and Jake hurrying down the hall, laughing and looking like they were having a grand time. He barely had enough time to move further back inside, plopping down from overbalancing. A scary looking man, one who was often around the hockey seal, rushed after them. Pinky blinked, then laughed from his seated position. "They're playing 'Chase Me'! _Zort!_"

Coming up behind him, Brain laid an absent hand on Pinky's shoulder, leaning out to watch. They certainly weren't playing a game, judging by Mr. Killjoy's expression. Tulip and Jake had obviously just been found out by Cam's... bodyguard, of sorts. Unfortunate for them, he supposed. "Hm. Well that's their affair, Pinky, and we'll leave them to it. Come. Mr. Andrews's room is a ways down the hall."

"When we're done, can we play too?" Pinky inquired as he pushed himself up off the floor and brushed off his dress. After an experimental twirl to make sure his skirt was still functioning properly, he started off down the hall with Brain.

Brain rolled his eyes, feeling his system returning to normal. "Perhaps," he evaded and clasped his hands behind his back.

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><p>aka Hell no we can't play XD<p>

* * *

><p>Skimmingsurfaces stolen AN:<p>

This was fun, the drawing scene was a big inspiration for this fic simply because in the one of the comics Pinky mimics Rose's pose complete with the necklace. Our fate was sealed from that moment on.

Brain's still being brat xD Denying his love  
>And Pinky, well, I just had so much fun with him and the mirror xDDDD He's just being Pinky<p>

Unfortunately, this is the last chapter of normalcy for our boys... and the rest of the people aboard the _Titanic_. I must warn ye... thar be angst ahead.


	12. Chapter 12

The two mice arrived at Mr. Andrews's designated chambers without incident. Pinky tilted his head as he looked the door over, then turned to face Brain. "How will we know if he's there or not?" He started to question, when a strange feeling overcame him.

His legs were shaking, as was his entire body. He was shaking so much, he made the floors and walls move too! It wasn't until he fell forward on his face that he realized it was the floor and not him causing the motion. There was a loud noise too, and Pinky clamped his hands over his ears as it happened.

Brain leaned against the wall to try and stay standing, but his legs simply gave out from under him and he ended up rattling along the floor until he hit the other wall. "What in the name of Ishmael's whale-?" he managed, but nearly biting his tongue stopped him from speaking further. He just hugged himself tightly throughout the wild shaking until the noise and the rumbles had passed. He blinked several times before slowly looking around and discovering he was all the way on the other end of the hallway. "Pinky...?"

Remaining on the ground with his ears covered for an extra minute or so once the tremors ceased, Pinky slowly lowered his hands and sat up. He looked around, then his eyes fell on Brain who was farther off than expected. Pinky immediately scrambled over, flailing. "Brain! Brain, what was all that shaking-banging-clanging?"

Since Pinky was alright, Brain took stock of himself. He lifted a hand to his head, still dazed. "I... I'm not sure, Pinky. It seems almost as though we've-" He broke off, running his hand over the expanse of his head and then looking around. "My hat! Help me find it, Pinky."

Pinky helped Brain to his feet first, then started to do as Brain asked, frantically searching for his special, important hat. "Oh! There it is, Brain!" It was over by Mr. Andrews's door still.

It took The Brain a moment to get his legs back under him after so much shaking, but he managed to stride purposefully towards it. He brushed it off, grumbling under his breath, and narrowly missed getting struck by the door when it swung open. He wasn't so lucky when it came to Mr. Andrews's boot and was squished beneath it as the man took off down the hall at a frantic pace. His head popped back to normal first, the rest of his body remaining flat to the floor. "This is not a temporary pain," he muttered and the rest of him popped back to normal.

"At least you have your special hat!" Pinky pointed out. "Poit." He smiled sheepishly at Brain, then went to help him up once more. "And Mr. Andrews just ran away, so you can look at his blue thingies! The earthquake must've scared him."

"It wasn't an earthquake, Pinky. The ship probably just threw a propeller blade. It's just an issue I'll have to fix once we're able to build more of these." He brushed himself off, flicking his wrist to pop his hat back into its proper shape and went through the door Andrews had carelessly left ajar. "I'm sure he was just embarrassed that a vessel he helped design has such a flaw."

Brain looked about the room, intrigued. It was larger than his own, which was to be expected but was still vaguely insulting, but the blueprints were easy enough to spot. They were already unrolled, splayed out over his desk. Excellent. "There they are, Pinky. Another key to our futures as world rulers!"

"I didn't know the world had so many locks." Pinky marveled, climbing up the desk so he could also look over the blueprints. "How many more keys will we need? _Narf!_"

Brain didn't correct him because he enjoyed the metaphor, so rubbed his hands together and hungrily took in the plans. The _Titanic_ was designed wonderfully, even better than he'd hoped. Up to four compartments could be flooded and the ship would still be able to reach its destination and, once he took it over, there was more than enough room for more lifeboats. He noted the location of the boiler rooms, appreciated the notation of watertight doors, and waved Pinky off the page so he could get to the next. "This is fantastic, Pinky! Your association with Miss Tulip turned out even better than I would've hoped." He patted Pinky's side, eyes gleaming as they roamed over the next page.

Pinky squirmed bashfully at the praise. "Oh, I'm so glad to have met her, Brain! She's lovely!" He agreed wholeheartedly. "If it wasn't for Jake, I'd never have gotten to meet her! Or get my dresses, or stay with you! Zort! Funny how things work out." He tapped his finger to his chin as he pondered.

He'd forgotten about the connection to Jake, which put a mild kink in his good mood. But he waved it off, and began scanning the blueprints for the first of the ten decks. He was at the last of them, eagerly anticipating more information on the boilers and how they worked, when the door swung open. He jolted and grabbed Pinky's arm, jerking him to a hiding spot behind a stack of books. "Quiet," he hissed, displeased when Andrews came over to the desk and started muttering over the plans. Brain ignored him and began to plot further, reviewing how he would take over the _Titanic_ quickest.

Since all Pinky's pondering had been taken care of, he had nothing to occupy his mind in the quiet space with Brain, other than Brain himself and he didn't want to linger on that. It wasn't later yet. So he listened to Mr. Andrews mutter, for he was quite good at deciphering mutters and grumbles of all kinds, growing anxious when nothing sounded positive. He said something about five compartments and water and sinking, and while Pinky didn't know much, he did know that sinking was bad for boats.

"Brain," he whispered, "I think something bad happened. Poit."

Wary of being caught, Brain grabbed Pinky's arm and pulled him downward. "Quiet," he repeated and wondered when they would be able to get out of here or when he could possibly get a glimpse at the plans again. But Andrews rolled the pages back up and, to The Brain's dismay, ran off with them. "Drat! Come, Pinky. There's still a deck that hasn't been researched. It could be important to our plans!"

"But, Brain!" Pinky called after him, fixing his wig from where it had become haphazard from all the jerking movements. "Mr. Andrews looked awfully upset! I think something bad happened!"

"We don't have _time_ to worry about Mr. Andrews, Pinky! Thanks to his blueprints, we can move everything ahead in our schedule!" After getting a look at the boiler rooms, they could possibly enact his takeover plans the following day. It was perfect! "I told you we more than likely threw a propeller. The design of this ship... I'll have to keep the men who did it in mind when we take over the world, Pinky." He went out the door, moving quickly, mind on his plans.

Well, if Brain seemed so certain that nothing was wrong, Pinky trusted him completely. Following after the excited mouse, he noticed more people were out in the halls than before. He figured they must just be investigating the strange banging and shaking, but the further along they went, the more people appeared. Some were wearing funny little jackets with no sleeves over their clothes. "Brain, why do they all have the same silly vest on?"

"What are you talking about, Pinky?" But Brain paused because there _were_ a lot of people out of their rooms and they were pretending to be a couple and... they were all wearing life vests. He took Pinky's hand and tucked it around his arm anyway, his aim now to keep them from being separated rather than worrying about their image. Life vests were... suspicious. "It's... It's probably nothing, Pinky. Just a precaution." He heard a nearby steward say the same to an upset woman and blew out a breath. Precaution. They'd be fine. And, while everyone was rushing to the top decks, they were unlikely to run into anyone below. Excellent. He rested a hand over Pinky's and resumed their quick walk. "We'll be fine."

Pinky nodded, but held tight to Brain's arm just the same. "Okay, Brain." Not too many of the other passengers looked all that worried, more annoyed than anything. The stewards and other crew members appeared fine as well. Pinky simply observed curiously, rather than anxiously, especially since Brain had told him they'd be fine and The Brain knew everything. There was no reason to be worried.

Brain led him carefully through the corridors, his mind beginning to turn from his plans as he saw everyone pouring from their rooms. They looked annoyed, yes, but more important was the simple fact that they _were_ leaving their rooms. That wouldn't be happening for no reason and Andrews had seemed to be sensible. He wouldn't panic over a lost propeller and, if he examined the previous scene closely, Andrews had most certainly been panicking.

He swallowed, entangled his fingers with Pinky's, and started down a set of steps that would lead them where they needed to be. There was still a chance, of course, that there was nothing to worry about. And there was absolutely no reason to worry Pinky if nothing was happening, so it was on towards the boiler rooms.

At least until they reached water. The Brain stood on the edge of a staircase in the third class section, pressed with Pinky against a wall while the poorest class rushed by them, their feet pounding on the stairs. It didn't mean they were sinking. The ship could take four boilers. This was just excess water. It would slow them down, but it wouldn't stop them. Heart palpitating, he clung to Pinky's hand and let people rush by while they waited for the area to clear.

"I think someone forgot to turn off their sink too, Brain." Pinky eyed the water that was steadily creeping up towards the staircase, then became distracted by the rush of people clambering past them. "Why is everyone running? Is it a race to get the plumber to fix it? _Narf!_" All these people were wearing the funny vests too. Must be the new fashion statement, though he didn't know where everyone got them from.

As the last of the people, for the time being, ran up the stairs, Pinky looked back at the water. He knew they were going down, but how much further? "Should we find another way, Brain? One that's less... wet?"

For the moment, The Brain left Pinky's original questions unanswered. He could assume it was just a fixable overflow; it was easier than explaining the possibility of a hull breach. The megalomaniac's survival instincts were shouting at him to go to the top deck and locate the nearest lifeboat, but his logic was louder. They didn't know for sure if they were sinking. He would need to see the boiler rooms for sure, count how many were filling up, see the watertight doors. "Another way," he agreed and, keeping a tight grip on Pinky's hand, started back up the stairs.

Relieved for the time being, he didn't want to get his dress wet, it didn't last long. It seemed like water was all over the third class floor, even when they tried another staircase. One sink couldn't make this much water, right? Someone should've turned it off by now. "Brain, I don't think we should go down there." Pinky tugged on his hand. "I'm not dressed to go swimming."

A group of people stampeded past them, the two mice sticking close to the wall once again. A top hat fell off one gentleman, but he didn't stop to pick it up. Pinky let go of Brain's hand to inspect it. "Oh no, he lost his special hat! Should we give it back to him? _Zort!_"

"Pinky, we don't-" He stopped. "We will when we get to the top deck," he reassured his friend, though he had no idea how they'd do that and no intention of actually trying. With a hand clapped over his own hat to keep it on his head, The Brain leapt into the human's hat and reached out for Pinky to follow. "Come, Pinky. I'm sure he wouldn't mind us using it as a makeshift boat."

"A little boat! Oh, fun-fun silly-willy!" He grabbed onto Brain's hand and climbed in as well. "I love boat rides!"

"Wonderful." Brain reached for the wall to try and shove themselves off, but slipped a little and nearly fell into the water, throwing his hands out uselessly to act as a barrier. They plunged into the water and he felt the cold shoot through his entire body, snapping back his hands and jerking away. He smacked the opposing side of the hat and sent them off down the hall. He looked up at Pinky and battled down his nerves. Mice, even genetically modified ones, wouldn't be able to survive over-exposure to water at that temperature. "Stay in the hat, Pinky. And don't climb out unless you can get onto a dry surface."

"Oh, don't worry, Brain! I already told you, I'm not dressed for swimming! _Narf!_" He laughed, then pulled himself up to peer over the edge of the hat. It dipped slightly under the weight. "Oh this is fun! A boat inside a boat!"

"Good. Keep that in mind," Brain muttered, trying to stay in the middle of the hat to keep it from overturning. Perhaps they should find another staircase after all and head up. They could sneak onto a lifeboat and leave this mess behind before things got too dangerous. But when he got to his feet, it was only to see a staircase _whoosh_ by, and his ears fell back. Uh-oh.

His excitement now receding, Pinky simply looked about the hall. "Um, Brain? Where is our hat-boat supposed to be going?" As he asked this, he leaned back a bit, causing the hat to wobble. Not enough to turn them over, not by a long shot, but enough to jostle Pinky's wig from his head. "My hair!" He cried out as it fell into the water, then tried to reach for it, but stopped when the hat tipped dangerously, letting the wig float away. "Poit."

"Forget about the wig, Pinky. You look much better without it," Brain assured him, scooting a little further away to keep the hat balanced.

"Really, Brain?" Pinky lowered himself into the hat all the way, beaming at him. He placed a hand behind his head and another on his hip. "Well I do try to watch my figure! _Narf!_" he said while giggling.

A blush rising, Brain turned away to try and figure out a way for them to stop. The smaller mouse's ears perked when he heard someone shout out for help, but it was too far away for him to tell exactly which direction. They seemed to be moving closer, though... But then a wave of water rushed down the hall and sent them spinning. Brain reached out and grabbed Pinky, pinning him to the bottom of the hat while his friend laughed in his ears.

"Oh, this is fun, Brain!" Pinky wanted to look over the edge again, spinning was always the most fun when you got to see the world zoom by in all the pretty colors, but Brain kept him down. "I want to see all the swirly colors!"

"Not right now, Pinky. Just stay." More water wasn't good and suddenly going to the boiler rooms wasn't important in the slightest. They had to keep safe; he had to keep Pinky safe. "You can move again when we stop spinning."

Pinky pouted. "But that's when all the fun's over!" Still, he wouldn't disobey him when he specifically told him to stay put. And it wasn't quite true, the ride on the water would still be fun. At least that's what he thought until he heard the distant shouting too. "What's that, Brain?" Perhaps someone didn't like this ride.

"I don't _know_, Pinky, but we're moving closer to whoever it is." He leaned back a little bit as the spinning slowed, but their hat banged against one wall, shot along to bang another, and he dropped right back down and clung to his friend.

Pinky laughed "It's like bumper boats! _Troz!_" He noticed Brain's clinging and hugged him back. "It's okay, Brain." He rubbed his shoulder. "We're safe in our hat boat!"

Safe until they tipped over, at any rate, but Brain kept that particular thought to himself. "Yes, Pinky, just like bumper cars." He sat up slowly as they finally seemed to be on a straight path. They needed to find a way to stop or at least control where they were heading. Stairs would be excellent right now. He got to his feet and peered over the edge just as Tulip was leaving a room, Jake behind her. Brain's expression went irritated immediately. "Oh, of _course_."

Pinky popped up beside him. "What is it? Oh!" He broke into a huge grin and started waving, his tail wagging enthusiastically. "It's Jake and Miss Tulip! Hiiii!" His added weight to Brain's side of the hat caused it to tip again.

They swept passed, Brain clinging to Pinky's shoulder. "Don't- Nyaaaah!" He glared up at Jake, disliking his presence and not appreciating the sudden lift. "What on earth are you doing down here?"

"We could ask you the same," Tulip replied, wading through the deep, freezing water.

"We're taking a boat ride!" Pinky waved his arms excitedly.

Jake glanced between the two mice, his brow furrowing. "Don't you guys know what's going on? We need to get to the deck."

"Of course _I_ know what's going on," Brain snapped. "But it's a little difficult to steer when one's in a hat." The sound of rushing water alerted them all and Brain looked over quickly, sucking in a sharp breath. The water was surprisingly close to the ceiling and only getting higher.

"This is the way out!" Tulip exclaimed and Jake began pulling her the opposite way, keeping a tight grip on the hat the two mice were in.

"What's going on?" Pinky asked, confused and a little disappointed that their boat ride was over. "Where are we going?"

Jake tried to explain while getting them all out before the water got any higher. "We hit an iceberg, the ship's sinking!"

"Sinking?" Pinky blinked, peering over the edge of the hat at the water below.

Brain closed his eyes for a moment, trying to think. He wasn't completely certain where they were, but Jake seemed to know the general direction to go. There were several ways up to the deck and if he could just figure out where they were, Brain could point them in the correct direction. "Are you _sure_ we're sinking?"

"We heard Mr. Andrews talking about it with the captain and a few other members of the crew. They're loading up the lifeboats and everything." And, though Pinky and The Brain were unaware, she had just loaded her mother into one and left her behind. "And Mr. Andrews told me himself."

They were sinking and there were only enough lifeboats for half the passengers. Brain reached out and took Pinky's hand, holding it gently. "We need to get to the deck. Can't you walk any faster?"

"You try walking through all this water, freezing and weighing down your clothes." Jake replied. "I could drop this hat." But his tone implied that he wouldn't dare.

Pinky gave Brain's hand a gentle pat, since he seemed so upset. "Don't worry, Brain. We'll get to ride in the little boats now. It'll be okay! _Narf!_" Voices began to get louder as they moved through the corridor and out of the water, angry voices. They turned a corner and went up, moving faster now that they were out of the water. Pinky huddled closer to Brain as they came upon a large crowd of people shouting and shoving against metal bars at the top of the stairs. "How'd we get in a cage, Brain?"

Brain straightened, cursing his stature, and climbed up onto the brim of the hat. "These gates aren't supposed to be closed! They're only to be used in quarantine!" There was such a large crowd. Women and children among them. They were _sinking_ and they were locking the gates?

"Don't touch the gates!" someone was shouting. "Get back!"

"For God's sake, man! There are women and children down 'ere!" came the answer and Brain looked at Pinky, dropping back down to join him.

"We'll be alright, Pinky. They can't keep those doors locked." Not with the water just behind them. But at least now he had his bearings and knew where they were.

Pinky ducked back down into the hat, the shouting unsettling him. "We're not submarined, are we, Brain?" He tugged on his ears as he worried. "Egad, it's because I lost my wig isn't it? No hair, no service! _Troz!_"

As he lamented their predicament, Jake tried to push through, but it didn't look likely that they'd have any luck if they pushed through. An Irish man, Tommy, whom Jake had befriended and Pinky met briefly broke free of the crowd, calling out to Jake.

"Can we get out?"

"It's hopeless that way!"

Brain released his hold on Pinky, taking a step away and rubbing his head. He needed to _think_ and all this insanity wasn't helping in the slightest. He ignored the Italian man who ran up, another one of Jake's miscreant friends, until he spoke. "The boat's are all gone!"

That was... impossible, so it was dismissed. They just needed to get to the deck. And, well, even if the lifeboats were gone, they still had a better chance of surviving up on the deck. But then Jake started running again and Brain slid along the bottom of the hat. With a growl, he climbed up onto the brim. He was tired of letting these humans mindlessly dictate their direction. "Pinky, Simon says cover your ears." He didn't want him hearing anymore of the shouting, overhearing things that he needn't.

Familiar with their game, Pinky immediately clamped his paws over his ears, looking up at Brain curiously. He bounced along the bottom of the hat as Jake ran, though where they were going, he had no idea. "What's going on, Brain?" he asked, not occurring to him that he wouldn't be able to hear with his ears covered.

The megalomaniac looked back, but didn't bother to respond. He never should've brought Pinky all the way down here. He scrambled up to Jake's shoulder to see the signs they passed and calculate the shortest route to the top. E Deck. E Deck, E Deck, E... "Turn!" he shouted and Jake paused, looked down the hall Brain had directed.

"Come on!" the Italian called and Brain tugged sharply on his ear.

"No. _Turn_. Go down that hall, make a right, and take the stairs there."

"Brain drew a picture of the whole boat in his head!" Pinky piped up when he felt Jake's hesitation. "He knows all the rooms!"

Jake glanced at Tulip for moment, then nodded. He gestured for the others to follow him down the hall Brain directed him to, still holding tight to Tulip with one hand and the hat with the other. There were less people down this way, but still a good amount being blocked by another metal gate and a steward on the other side.

But at least this one was being calmer. "Just go back to the main stairwell and everything will be sorted out there." Brain climbed back down into the hat, joining Pinky once more. He didn't scold him for uncovering his ears, trying to think. This wasn't going to work either and he was growing increasingly distressed. Blocking the third class from the top deck was... it was monstrous. It was murder. Didn't they understand that?

Jake pushed to the front. "Open the gate." When it didn't work, he pointed angrily. "Open the gate right now!"

"Oh, yes," Brain muttered. "That'll show him." But then the hat was shoved at Tulip and Brain stumbled into his companion. He missed Jake's furious swearing as a result.

Furiously, Jake spun about and made a beeline for a bench bolted to the floor. He gave a few experimental tugs, then hollered over his shoulder, "Fabri, Tommy, give me a hand over here!" The three men all started ripping the bench away.

Pinky looked up at Tulip, holding onto Brain now that he'd been knocked into him. There was a lot of yelling and distressing cries in languages he didn't understand. And it was such a strange thing to see humans putting other humans in cages. It didn't seem very nice at all. Suddenly he heard a loud sound, followed by Tulip commanding everyone to "move aside". Their hat was jostled even more, so Pinky tightened his grip. He couldn't see what was going on, but the loud banging gave him some kind of clue. Jake and his friends were bringing down the gate using the bench as a battering ram of sorts.

The hat stilled while they were opening the gate, so Brain pushed away from Pinky and climbed back onto the brim. The steward was shouting, red-faced and furious. "Stop that!" Brain only removed his own hat and ran his fingers along the brim, heart pounding, mind working. This was so very _wrong_ and would never have been happening had he managed to take over the ship.

With a loud sound, the gate broke away from the wall and the small crowd flooded the hall. With a yelp, Brain tumbled back into the hat when Tulip rushed after, latching onto Jake's hand. "You can't do this!" the steward was shouting and Tommy knocked him out with a hard punch.

"Come on, Tulip!" Jake called for her, making sure she, and the mice, stayed with him as they dashed down the hall.

Pinky helped Brain up from where he tumbled in, picking up his hat from where it had fallen. "Here, Brain. Poit."

"Thank you, Pinky." He put it back on and rubbed his eyes before looking up at Pinky. "Are you alright?"

"Mmhmm!" Pinky nodded, "Though I would like to see what's going on, but we're all wibble-wobble in the hat. _Narf!_ Where are we going now, Brain?" So much was going on, his short-attention span was being pushed to it's limit. "The little boats?"

"Yes, Pinky, the little boats." He could only hope the Italian boy had been wrong. "Come. We'll sit on Miss Tulip's shoulder so you can see what's going on." The hat had been convenient enough in defense against the water, but now it was largely just an irritant. He imagined it wasn't easy for the humans to cart around either. He climbed onto the brim and offered his hand to his friend, taking in the trusting blue gaze and wide smile. There had to be lifeboats left.

"_Zort!_" Pinky took hold of Brain's hand and scrambled up the side of the hat. "Miss Tulip, can we ride on your shoulder?" It seemed only polite to ask, though everyone was rushing about, he didn't know if she could even hear him. Her peripheral vision caught their movement though, letting them dash up her arm so she could toss the hat away. "Bye, hat boat!" Pinky waved, then took in their surroundings once Jake pushed through the door to the deck. "Naaaaaarf... there's so many people, Brain!"

"The boats are gone!" Tulip exclaimed, both she and Jake searching the deck frantically.

Brain's heart sank, his hand searching for and latching tightly onto Pinky's. So many people were on the deck and there weren't any boats. He shouldn't have led Pinky down below.

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><p>And so it begins...<p>

Guh. So many tears were shed while writing this XD

And skimmingsurfaces and I already knew how it was going to end! So that should tell you something, lol

Good luck through these last few chapters


	13. Chapter 13

I love this chapter SO MUCH

But it makes me sad everytime D:

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><p>"Colonel!" Tulip cried suddenly, rounding on an aging man with two women on either arm. "Are there any boats on that side?"<p>

"No, miss, but there are a couple of boats all the way forward. This way; I'll lead you."

Brain opened his mouth to protest the waste of time, but Jake and Tulip were already running off in the direction of the supposed boats. The deck was at an incline and Brain quickly realized that they were going down at the head. "Pinky, promise me you won't let go of my hand," he urged as the sound of gunshots permeated the air.

Pinky jumped at the sudden noises, latching onto Brain's entire arm "I don't think you have to worry about that, Brain." He replied nervously, looking around for the source of the sound. The crowd was so large and noisy, however, that he couldn't pinpoint the direction. They came to a relatively clear spot on the deck, passing several musicians playing their violins and cellos. The music was a nice distraction, even though they went by it fairly quickly. "What a lovely song! _Narf!_" He craned his neck back to look at them, while still holding tight to Brain just like he'd asked.

"Yes, it is." His heart sank further as the area they ran to didn't have any room on the boat that was there. Jake led them elsewhere and Brain quietly watched a little girl get taken from her father and placed in one that still seemed relatively empty. He turned his head away, pressing his face into Pinky's side while the father reassured the girl. There wasn't going to _be_ another boat for the daddies.

Pinky looked down at Brain, surprised by the action but quick to respond. He rubbed the smaller mouse's shoulder in an attempt to comfort. "It's okay, Brain! He said there will be other boats!" Which was good, because it didn't look like there were enough and it wouldn't be fair not to give everyone a chance to ride in a little boat. He nuzzled Brain gently, murmuring under his breath, "Naaaarf..."

He had to hold onto Brain tighter as Tulip suddenly turned to face Jake. "I'm not going without you." She told him firmly, to which Pinky wondered why they'd even think of separating.

They argued for a moment and Brain lifted his arms, wrapping them tightly around his sidekick. "Yes, Pinky, there'll be other boats," he whispered, voice catching.

"Yes, get on the boat!" Jake demanded and Cam's dulcet tones echoed him.

"My god, look at you." He looked her over, sneer present. "You look a fright. Here." He swept Jake's coat from her shoulders and threw it at Jake, taking the two mice with it, and replaced it with his own. Clutching Pinky's hand, Brain managed to get out of the rumpled fabric and started up Jake's arm to get to his shoulder, clinging to Jake's shirt when he maneuvered Cam out of the way and pressed Tulip closer to the lifeboat.

"Go on," he urged. "I'll get the next one."

"No. Not without you." She replied stubbornly, her gaze flickering to the two mice on his shoulder before staring intently into Jake's eyes.

Pinky frowned, he didn't like that Jake was trying to make her go alone. Turning to Brain, he asked, "Why won't he go with her?" There was still a little bit of room on this boat, surely the two of them could squeeze on. Along with Brain and himself, of course, as mice they didn't take up much space.

"Didn't you hear the crewman, Pinky? This boat is for women and children. The _next_ one is for men." But he froze, looking Pinky up and down carefully. He was still in the dress. Pinky was _still_ in the dress. Yes, he'd lost the wig, but between his mannerisms and the ease with which he wore the thing, no one would say anything. And if they did, Tulip would never say anything. His heart knocked painfully against his ribs. He could save Pinky.

Cam came up, breaking into their argument. "I have an arrangement with an officer on the other side of the ship. Jake and I can get off safely, both of us." He took notice, then, of the two on his shoulder. "All of us," he amended and Brain immediately knew it was a lie. A man like him would never allow someone like Jake on his lifeboat and, with him and Pinky clearly aligned with the third class man, he wouldn't dream of allowing them on either.

But Jake looked to Tulip. "See? I got my own boat to catch." And with Cam and Jake both urging her on, Tulip allowed the crewman to drag her aboard. And Brain was caught. Jake leaned against the railing and Brain very carefully led Pinky down his arm to stand upon it. He could save Pinky. As the boat lowered, the thought echoed in his mind. He would die, but he could save Pinky. Brain lifted a hand to his mouth, trying to muffle sniffles as his eyes welled up.

Pinky, on the other hand, was relieved. "Oh, good, Brain." He released a breathy, nervous laugh. "We get to go on a boat too! Brain?" Blue eyes widened as he heard the muffled sniffles. "Don't be sad, Brain! Didn't you hear? We'll get to ride a boat too, greasy seal man said so." Pinky brought Brain's hand close to his chest and patted it. "We'll see Miss Tulip again soon. _Narf!_"

As he said this he looked over at her, she looked rather upset though. Probably because she'd miss Jake while he was on the other boat, but surely they'd meet up eventually. Pinky would even help them find each other if it came to it. The boat began to lower and Pinky waved to Tulip, but her eyes remained locked on Jake. He didn't take offense to it though, just smiled and kept waving.

They were almost too low now. He had to do it. He had to do it. Brain closed his eyes tightly and took a deep breath, quelling the emotional response for the time being. He turned to Pinky, grabbing his shoulders and pulling him down so they were eye level. "Pretty Pinky," he whispered, hands lifting to cradle his face. "Promise me something."

Beaming, Pinky nodded, appearing positively giddy at the words and the contact. Perhaps it was later now! "What, Brain?"

His heart shattered, the sensation as surprising as it was painful. He touched their noses together and made a little gasping sound. Now. Now before it was too late. "Don't forget me," he managed and gave a hard shove, sending Pinky into the lifeboat below. Above him, he heard Cam confirm that they wouldn't be making it onto his boat and could only hope that Tulip would take care of Pinky. Someone had to take care of him.

Pinky barely had time to blink, let alone protest, as he suddenly found himself sprawled out in Tulip's lap. The fall sent his already racing heart right into his throat, shock apparent on his face. Sure, Brain bopped him lots, but it was all in good fun and he'd never _pushed _him off something so high. His chest felt tight, as he felt sad but he didn't quite understand why. Bending his elbows back, he propped himself up to be supported by the palms of his hands and looked up. Confusion shone in his wide, blue eyes. Why had Brain pushed him off? Why wasn't he coming too? Pinky's breaths started coming rapidly, unable to tear his gaze away from Brain, still atop the railing.

"Brain...?" Pinky had to clear his throat, his voice had been much softer than he expected. "Brain! Brain, what's going on?"

He leaned forward as far as he dared, clutching his hat to keep it from flying off, and watched Pinky's descent. The tears that rolled down his cheeks were wiped away quickly. "It's alright!" he called. "You'll be okay!" He would be. And he would be happy and lovely and he'd make plenty of other friends. Pinky always made friends so easily. He'd be okay.

They were supposed to go together. They were supposed to go together! Pinky felt tears well up in his eyes. This wasn't fair at all. He leaned forward, clutched the hem of his dress in his paws and wrung it between them. "But Brain!" He wailed, lip quivering. "I wanted to go with you! P-p-poit!" They had a boat, why was he putting him on a different one? He stood up quickly, to see if there was anything he could do to get back up, but lost his balance and tumbled onto the seat beside Tulip.

"No, Pinky!" They were making a scene, some part of the Brain acknowledged. But he didn't care for once. There was just Pinky and how upset he was. He'd get over it. Brain had to tell himself that. "You can't come back up here! I'll see you again; it'll be okay! You'll be alright!" he promised. Jake had fisted his hands together on the railing, so Brain climbed onto them so he could keep watching their descent. He wanted to watch Pinky as long as he could, no matter how much it hurt.

With a whimper, Pinky pushed himself up to a standing position. He clutched both his hands over his heart and stared longingly up at Brain. Did he not want to be around him anymore? Is that why he pushed him onto another boat? His eyes roved over Brain entirely. No... no, that wasn't it. Brain looked just as sad as he felt. He'd miss him too. Pinky wrapped his arms around himself, as if the half hug would comfort him somehow. His wrap had fallen to the floor of the boat, but the cold didn't bother him a bit right now.

A sudden movement beside him caught his attention, as well as the gasps echoing around him. Tulip had stood up, was pushing her way through the women on the boat towards the edge closest to the ship. Pinky's ears perked up as her dress brushed past him. Brain had said not to... but he looked so sad! Surely going back up would make him happy! Pinky latched on to Tulip's coat, trying to climb up it as she leapt from the little boat to the ship. People were yelling, he vaguely heard Jake screaming at her not to, but it was too late at this point. She stumbled, almost slipping between the two had the men on the deck not grabbed onto her. Pinky slid down the coat a little, looking down at the dark, angry water before scurrying up once again. By the time Tulip was safely aboard and running, Pinky had secured himself on her shoulder.

Brain reached out so quickly that he nearly fell off the edge. "No! Pinky!" he shouted, even as Jake called out to Tulip. He latched onto the young man's sleeve as he took off running, clutching tightly as he pushed between people. Pinky! No, god, Pinky...! He couldn't think, mind overwhelmed entirely while Jake burst into one of the rooms and started down the grand staircase. They met at the bottom, the two humans coming together in a grand embrace. Brain scrambled up to Jake's shoulder and sprang to Tulip's to bop Pinky on the head. "Pinky! What were you _thinking_?"

His eyes lit up as they fell upon Brain, laughing brightly as he was bopped. "Oh, I was pondering what you were pondering, Brain!" Pinky calmed down, though his tail wagged happily and his gaze didn't lose its glow. "I didn't want to be without you either."

"No, Pinky, no..." With a sob, Brain launched himself at Pinky and hugged him tightly, but Jake and Tulip were moving back and forth so rapidly that the momentum propelled the two mice downward and right into the pocket of Tulip's coat. Brain didn't relinquish his hold. They could've fallen to the floor and he wouldn't have let go. "You were _safe_, Pinky! Why didn't you stay?"

Pinky hugged him back just as tightly, even as they fell into the pocket, his good mood melting away as it registered that Brain wasn't pleased. "Poit... Well, you were sad, Brain! And I was too! It just seemed silly for us both to be sad." He explained, nuzzling his cheek against Brain's.

"You were safe," he repeated. And now he wasn't, neither of them were. "You were going to be okay." He nuzzled right back, breath catching. "Oh, Pinky, I never should've brought you onto this ship."

"But we've had so much fun." Pinky wrinkled his nose as he disagreed with Brain, pulling back a little. "And there are other little boats for us to ride on. We'll be okay together, Brain!" he chirped, bumping their noses together. "It's not fun to be okay if you're by yourself. _Troz!_"

"No, Pinky... There are no more little boats. There are no more. That was all. You were on the last boat. Cam lied about letting us share his, so that's it." It hurt to say it, to have to explain, so Brain gently ran his fingers over Pinky's cheeks to comfort them both. "You were on the last little boat and you were safe..."

Pinky tilted his face against Brain's fingers, blinking at him curiously as his thought process worked with this new information. His brow furrowed as he finally comprehended it. "Wha... But then... There wasn't going to be a boat for you, Brain!" He narrowed his eyes, foreign emotions rushing through him. "Why didn't you get on with me then? If you didn't have a boat?" Negative feelings didn't stay long however, and suddenly Pinky was hugging him again. "What a nasty, mean ol' seal man! Lying to us like that! I'm extra glad I got off now! _Narf! _ I can't leave you, Brain!"

Brain's body sagged in defeat and his head turned, so he could gently nuzzle the other mouse. He still didn't understand, not really, and Brain hoped it was quick enough for them both that he wouldn't have to explain all the way. "Pinky," he began quietly, "you simpleton, I l-"

Above them, Jake gave a shout and Brain and Pinky were flung about in the pocket as Tulip's coat flared, and a gunshot rang through the air. Brain poked his head out of the pocket, searching for the source. He found it quickly in Cam, who was running down the stairs after them, a gun in hand. His ears fell. "Oh, dear."

Beside Brain, Pinky poked his head out as well. With a loud gasp, he pointed at Cam. "Egad, Brain! The crazy seal man is after us! He's going to make us into hockey pucks and beat us with his sticks!"

Jake and Tulip dashed around the corner, narrowly missing a bullet from Cam's gun. The two mice bobbed about in the coat pocket, going this way and that as the humans ran, so Pinky started to climb up the coat. It would be less jarring if they were perched on Tulip's shoulder. He reached down to help Brain up after him.

Brain started to grab at Pinky's hand, but his hat fell so he slipped back down into the pocket to grab it and finally noticed the necklace. He blinked at it, but shook his head because it simply didn't matter. Particularly not when he looked back up and saw Pinky waiting. Hat tucked his hat under his arm, Brain started to climb the fabric, clutching tightly and gasping when they were narrowly missed by another shot. The sound of a splash reverberated through his mind and he abruptly realized that they were going down. Going downwards in a sinking ship. Stupid humans. Stupid, stupid humans.

"He's even meaner than I thought!" Pinky huffed, "It's very rude to point guns at people!" Another bullet whizzed past and Tulip screamed, startling Pinky into a yelp of his own.

Jake tugged them along through the water, panicky and demanding as he tried to shield them from the shots. "Come on, Tulip! Move!" He headed for the dining room, the path to it almost completely submerged, and ducked behind the glass doors to turn the corner. The gunshots died off to replaced by Cam's frustrated grunting.

At Rose's shoulder, Brain put his hat on and tugged Pinky against him, holding tightly and hoping Cam had no extra ammunition. "He's stopped now; we made it. Are you alright, Pinky?" He pulled away, studying his friend carefully. Around them the metal of the boat was creaking, and in the dining room dishes were clinking together on tables, and the rush of water was almost overwhelming...

But all The Brain could think about was how hard Pinky had worked on that beautiful dress just for him. That beautiful dress that he'd never get to wear again, that no one would ever get to see him in because they would never be found. No one could find two little white mice in the Atlantic Ocean; no one would try. No one would know about them and no one would think about them. He was going to die without taking over the world, without having done anything. The only good thing in his life was dying with him and no one would care. He touched his nose to Pinky's gently and wished more than anything that the beautifully stupid mouse had stayed on the lifeboat.

"I'm alright, Brain!" Pinky nodded reassuringly. "But I don't think that window is." He pointed at the spider web of cracks on the door from where the bullet made contact. "Doesn't he know it's dangerous to play with those things? _Narf!_" He placed his hands on his hips, but was quick to remove them and wrap them around Brain when their noses touched. Brain was being awfully affectionate, not that Pinky minded of course, it was just odd. "Are you feeling okay, Brain?" Pinky asked in return, fisting his paw in the fabric of Tulip's coat as the two humans found dry land and began their frantic running anew.

"I'm fine, Pinky." He held on a little tighter as they began to get bobbled as the humans scrambled down a set of stairs.

"I hope you enjoy your time together!" was dimly heard in the distance and Brain shuddered from relief. No more ammunition, then. They could go back up. They _should_ go back up. But he heard the sound of a child screaming and his heart began to thud anew. He was nearby.

Pinky's ears twitched and he turned his head in the direction of the distressed cries. "Someone needs help!" He tugged on Brain's arm, as if that would help get them to go in the direction of the child despite them relying on Jake and Tulip for transportation. Nonetheless, the pair headed in that direction anyway, sloshing through the water once more.

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><p>Skimmingsurfaces says:<p>

This is my favorite chapter *sniffle*  
>Well, they're all my favorite chapters xD But this one is especially close to my heart<p>

I can't tell you how weepy we were when we wrote this lol, and it only gets worse. Or better, depending on how sadistic you are xD

_"Egad, Brain! The crazy seal man is after us! He's going to make us into hockey pucks and beat us with his sticks!"_  
>Just wanted to add some lightheartedness, and say farewell to Cam Hockey Greasy Seal Man.<p> 


	14. Chapter 14

So sorry for not updating yesterday! Totally forgot, had fam stuff and bluh

You should get 15 in a little while~

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><p>The boy looked ragged and helpless, water threatening from all sides. Above them, the electricity crackled and Brain shivered. They really needed to get back up or they were going to die right where they were. Water was rushing down the stairs now; there'd be no going back that way.<p>

"We can't leave him," Tulip announced.

Jake hesitated a moment, seeming to take note of the things The Brain already knew. But then he grabbed Tulip's hand and began running to the boy. "All right, come on!"

Brain tucked an arm tightly around Pinky's waist and tried to think of ways out, but there was water everywhere and it was so very difficult to think clearly...

"He looks so scared!" Pinky worried. "And he's all alone and lonely! Where are his parents?"

Jake scooped up the little boy in his arms, glancing up at the door he stood in front of. Water streamed out from the cracks, threatening to burst open at any moment and release and torrent of frigid water. He immediately turned around, Tulip following suit, and raced down the corridor in search of another way out. The child still cried, and Pinky's heart went out to him.

"There, there, it's alright now! We'll help you find your family! Poit!" He attempted to offer some sort of comfort, but from Tulip's shoulder there wasn't much the mouse could do.

He didn't want to explain to Pinky that there was possibly no family to be found, so just held a little tighter and looked down every corridor for some sign of an exit. A wave of water pounded from one hall, blocking their paths, and Jake turned. "Let's go back!" he called and a man burst from a corridor. He ran at them, yelling in something that sounded like Czech, and took the boy.

He carried the child towards the creaking door and Brain's eyes went wide. "No," he breathed just as Jake and Tulip began shouting at him. That was the wrong way. Oh, no.

"We already tried that way! _Narf!_" Pinky joined in the shouting as Jake and Tulip hurried after the man and child in an attempt to stop them.

He did stop momentarily, to pick up a suitcase, then turned to face the door. This time it did burst open, water flooding the hallway as a vicious current pulled the man down, heading straight towards the two humans and the mice. "Go!" Jake ordered, pushing Tulip around as she screamed, running as fast as they could to escape the oncoming rush threatening to pull them under.

Pinky stared at it wide-eyed. Where had the man and child gone? He grabbed on tightly to Brain with one arm, clinging to Tulip's coat with the other as she ran.

They turned down an open hall and Brain had just enough time to calculate their speed versus the water's speed before his math was proven correct and the humans were swept off their feet. "Pinky!" he gasped before the shock of the cold water silenced him as they were carried down the hall and into a closed gate. The Brain snapped out his hand, grabbing his hat as it flew off more by instinct than design, and would've gone through a hole in the gate had his friend not been clinging to him.

Shrieking along with Tulip as the cold water engulfed him, Pinky swallowed a mouthful of the bitter, icy water, coughing it up as they stopped at the gate. Normally he liked water rides, but this was much too cold to enjoy properly, and it made his dress stick to him uncomfortably. Had he hugged Brain any tighter, he probably would've strangled him but the water rushed by so quickly, the fear of getting swept away only made him pull him closer.

The two humans turned about, clinging to the wall as they tried to fight the current and find some way to pull themselves out the water. A stairwell that had yet to fill up was their destination, but another iron gate blocked their path. Tulip grabbed onto the bars, looking around desperately as Jake shook it in attempt to pry it open. Water rose quickly at their feet, and would surely fill the stairwell in a matter of minutes if not seconds.

For a horrible moment, Brain latched onto Pinky's hand and considered making a break for it. There was plenty of room for them to squeeze through. They could go. He could lie to Pinky, tell them they'd send help once aboard deck, and then distract him by whatever means necessary. The plan formulated perfectly within a moment's time, but was banished just as quickly. Brain turned into Pinky, holding him tightly. They were both soaked and that certainly wasn't good. There had to be a way out... For all of them.

"Wait, sir!" Jake shouted and Brain turned, stunned to find a steward on the stairs before them.

"Oh, please," he whispered while Tulip and Jake begged for help. He looked as though he may ignore them for a second, then turned with a muttered swear. He started fumbling with the keys, hands shaking, and Brain slipped a little on Tulip's shoulder trying to watch.

Pinky trembled, watching the steward's shaking hands. Tulip and Jake called for him to hurry, which only seemed to make him more nervous. Pinky would've told him to take his time, but even he wasn't oblivious to the water rising, and the panic radiating off his companions kept his voice locked in his throat. The keys slipped from the steward's hands, dropping right into the water.

The steward looked up, met Pinky's eyes for only a second before staring at Tulip. "I'm sorry." His whole body was shaking now. "I dropped the keys!" Without any other warning, he darted up the stairs, leaving Jake and Tulip pleading after him to get some help.

Pinky looked down into the water, he could slip through the bars. And he was a good swimmer. Already wet and dress ruined, he didn't see any reason not to. "I'll get the keys!" He announced, letting go of Brain and Tulip to jump into the water.

"Pinky!" Brain shouted. "No!" They needed to stay out of the water as long as possible or... or... "Oh, what's the use?" He dove in after him, reaching the set of keys soon after him. They were clearly heavy and so far down, The Brain was nearly out of air by the time he found them in the flickering water. Still, though, he tried to help lift them until his body couldn't take it any longer. His air came out in a spurt of bubbles and his grip slipped from the key ring entirely just as Jake grabbed them, keys and all, and lifted them into the air.

He sucked in a breath the moment he could, coughing and listening to the screams and shouts of the two humans as they tried to pick out which key would free them. "This one!" he managed, grabbing it immediately. He'd escaped from a locked cage more times than he could count - or at least that Pinky could count. "Just put it in the damn lock!"

"Hurry, Jake!" Tulip pleaded, the tension mounting as the water came up to their chests now. "Jake!"

Jake fumbled with the keys, trying to blindly turn the right one in the lock. Pinky had been pleased that they'd found the keys, but it vanished in the wake of the two humans' panic. Tulip was becoming more frantic, the water up to their shoulders, and Pinky didn't know where else to go. The water would touch the ceiling in no time.

"It's stuck!" Jake grunted, jerking his arm and pressing against the gate. The key was in the lock, but it wouldn't turn. He banged against it but it didn't budge.

Pinky started wailing right along with Tulip. "Brain!" He latched onto him, trying to bury his face in his friend's wet fur, water rising to their waists now.

Brain grabbed his shoulders and pushed him back a step. "It'll be okay," he promised. "But if you leave Tulip's shoulder before I get back, there will _never_ be a later." He sent him a glare to show that he meant it and jumped in, using Jake's arm as a guide down to the key. He scratched at his fingers desperately to make him let go and took a hold of the key himself, reaching his small hand into the lock to see why the tumblers weren't working. It was the wrong key, but they didn't have time to fix it and he didn't have the strength too. So he replaced his hand with his tail and used it to make up for the wrong teeth on the key, using his entire body to turn the thing.

It was pushed open and he clung to Jake's wrist as they surged forward, gasping for air when Jake lifted his hand out of the water.

"Brain! Brain!" Pinky cried, watching the water desperately. He fought the urge to jump in after him, the threat hanging over his head, so he clung to Tulip's shoulder as best as he could. But the water was up to Tulip's chin now, so he had no choice but to let go and take hold of her hair instead. When the gate opened and the water pushed them forward, he at least had something to hang onto.

"Go, Tulip!" Jake ordered, grabbing onto the ceiling and careful to keep Brain out of the water.

"Brain!" Pinky couldn't see him very well as Tulip trudged up the stairs, too tangled up in her hair.

"Pinky, you stay with her! You don't let her go!" Coughing, he gladly took refuge atop Jake's head, clutching his hair as he ducked beneath a pipe and followed Tulip up the steps and onto somewhere that was blessedly dry. When the two humans locked hands again, Brain slid down and ran up Tulip's arm to get to Pinky, to make sure he was alright.

"I'm sorry, Brain!" Pinky hiccuped as he hugged him tightly, nuzzling him so much so that his hat was knocked off. "I let go of her shoulder! Poit! I'm so sorry!"

"That's okay." Brain grabbed his hat before throwing his arms around his friend and holding just as tightly. "You kept a hold of her, so it's okay. Don't be sorry."

Pinky sniffled, rubbing his cheek against him. "It's okay?" That made him feel a little better, he hadn't disappointed Brain, but his stomach was unsettled from the anxiety he felt when it took Brain a while to come back up for air. "Are you alright, Brain? The water is so cold!" He moved his hands up and down Brain's back as if he could somehow warm him that way, but they were both so wet at this point, there wasn't much friction to be had.

"It's freezing," he muttered, turning his head to cough over Pinky's shoulder. It would only be colder when they hit it outside. "But I'm alright. You did just fine. I'm so glad you didn't let her go."

"Mr. Andrews!" Tulip called. "Wait, wait, wait! Mr. Andrews!"

The man was standing before a fireplace, leaning back in defense against the tilted ship, and turned his head towards them at the girl's voice. "Oh, Tulip."

She moved towards him. "Won't you even make a try for it?"

Brain closed his eyes, already knowing the answer. "Pinky, I need you to promise that you won't go away from me again. No going anywhere right now unless you ask me first."

"I promise, Brain. No going away from you! _Narf!_" Pinky gave him a gentle, extra squeeze at the exclamation, then looked at Mr. Andrews. He looked so sad. "Is it because his ship's breaking?" The inquiry was soft, so as not to distract Tulip or Jake. Though, the two mice had to move when Tulip was handed a life vest, since both humans were without them.

"I'm sorry I couldn't build you a stronger ship, young Tulip." Andrews told her quietly.

Brain held onto Pinky as they were transferred to Jake's hand, but tipped his hat to Andrews. He'd built a fine ship, in his opinion. It sinking wasn't his doing, nor was the lack of lifeboats. He'd built a fine ship. "Yes, Pinky," he murmured. "That's why."

"It's going fast," Jake interjected. "We have to move."

"Good luck to you," Andrews offered and they were moving again, up the side of the ship while Tulip pulled the vest on.

Pinky watched as Andrews disappeared from sight. "I wish he could've come with us, he's such a nice man." He sighed, still not understanding the fate for most of those still aboard. Once Tulip secured the life vest on, Jake transferred the mice back to her. Clearly, she was now the safer choice for them to stay with should anything happen. "Which way do we go now, Brain?"

He would've said straight ahead, but there were so many people blocking that exit. He could see the sky through the windows... "Uh... I..." He looked around. Where _could_ they go? There was so much water everywhere... But he looked up at Pinky, watched his expectant blink, and patted his shoulder. "To the right!" he called. "There's a dip in the hall that shouldn't be blocked off too badly and we'll come out at the other side."

"Jake!" Tulip called, tugging her lover in the direction the mouse directed. "This way! Come on!"

Taking the path Brain had advised them to follow, Jake gripped Tulip's hand in his and led them down. Water began to seep up into this part of the ship as well, requiring the humans to have to wade through it once more. For now it only reached their waists, but neither desired to risk staying where they were for longer than necessary. They needed to find a flight of stairs to get them up to the deck for their next course of action. As they rounded a corner, Tulip gasped and trained her gaze on Jake's shoulder so she wouldn't have to keep looking ahead..

Pinky, however, remained staring curiously. "Egad, Brain! That little girl's trying to swim all by herself!" He pointed ahead of them and to the left, where the body of a forgotten child floated face down in the water. "Little girl! It's not safe! The water's too cold for swimming!"

Brain's ears fell and he pulled Pinky down, forcefully turning his head so he wouldn't see the girl. He didn't understand that she was one of what would be many... "Hush now, Pinky." He stroked his friend's fur gently, nuzzling his cheek. So sweet, too sweet to be here. "Keep going, Jake! There are stairs right over there."

"But, Brain! She's all alone!" He tried to look back at her, maybe she just couldn't hear him, but Pinky couldn't pull away from Brain. His ears wilted too. "Shouldn't we help her, Brain? Poit."

Jake pressed on, rubbing his thumb against Tulip's hand to reassure her, attempting to ignore Pinky's naivete. None of this should have been happening. Children shouldn't be drowning in a boat not designed to save them. He got them to the stairs and began the ascent.

"Pinky, we wouldn't leave a little girl." His heart thudded dully as he tried to think of an excuse. "It... It was a doll. Just a life-sized doll, Pinky. Don't worry." As the humans once again reached a dry section of the boat, they began to hear the shouts and outcries of the terrified people still on deck. Brain looked around as the door opened and Jake pulled Tulip to the edge. People were leaping into the water... "Come, Pinky. Come on now. We'll go back into Tulip's pocket."

Not really having a choice, Pinky followed Brain down towards the bottom of her coat. "But how will we see where we're going? _Zort!_"

"Come on, Tulip." Jake moved her in front of him so he could make certain that he wouldn't lose her in the crowd, guiding her forward by keeping a good grip on her arm and waist.

Brain pushed Pinky into a sitting position and snuggled in his lap to prevent him from trying to go anywhere. Not seeing where they were going was exactly what he wanted. He didn't want anymore questions; he didn't want to see anymore little boys getting swept away or any little girls already lost. He didn't want to think about it. He didn't want Pinky to think about it.

"Jake and Tulip will take care of where we're going." There were more screams and wails outside, the sounds of distant splashes making him tremble. The smart thing to do was to stay on the ship as long as possible. The suction would be too great otherwise. "You trust them don't you, Pinky?"

Pinky nodded resolutely, placing his arms around Brain. "Of course, I do, Brain!" His ears twitched as he heard all the noise surrounding them. "Egad... what's going on out there?" He cuddled Brain close as he felt the tremors in his friend, resting his chin on his hat. It was such a nice hat. "Brain?" They were squished a bit, as Jake and Tulip had to squeeze through the crowd, but it passed quickly.

"Just don't listen to it, Pinky. It'll be quiet soon." It would be so very quiet soon. He stroked his companion's side gently and wondered how to distract him. The castle. "Do you remember the castle I promised you, Pinky? Our next scheme, I'll build you one. Do you remember?"

"Oh, yes, Brain!" Pinky's eyes lit up and he giggled. "Our bubble castle! Can it have unicorns and yams-_Narf!_" They were smushed together again briefly, Pinky sliding down a little in the bottom of the pocket. He blinked up at Brain, the words spinning around in his throat before he hesitantly broached the question. "Brain? Is it... later yet?"

"Pinky..." He lifted his hands to Pinky's cheeks, trying hard to think of a reason to refuse but nothing was coming to him. "Why do you want it to be later?" he murmured.

He couldn't meet Brain's eyes for a second, staring intently at his hat as he felt his face get warm. Which actually was kind of nice, since he was still wet and cold, but surely Brain could feel it since his hands were there and that was a little embarrassing. "Umm... well... poit." Pinky finally lowered his gaze back to Brain's. "Because I love you."

How could he possibly refuse that...? Brain shifted, letting their noses touch. "Pinky, I-" They were suddenly violently disrupted as Tulip made a leap, the two mice popping out of her coat pocket, spinning in the air for a moment, and dropping back into it in a heap when she landed flat on the deck. The diamond came down hard on Brain's head and he weaved dizzily while Tulip was helped to her feet outside. "Ow..."

"Oh! That was fun, Brain!" Pinky laughed, the mood effectively killed. "Can we go again? Oh... _Narf!_ Did the big rock squish your head?" He reached out and rubbed Brain's head gently.

Outside, Jake followed Tulip by leaping to the lower deck as well. She quickly latched onto him, having grown worried when he didn't immediately follow. Together they made their way to the very back of the stern, grabbing hold of the railing when they managed to push through. The ship was tilting forward, the bow submerged and the stern slowly lifting.

Brain shook his head, taking Pinky's hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. "I'm fine. Stay here. Don't even look out." There were too many screams and the boat was creaking so loudly; he didn't want Pinky to see anything he oughtn't. "I'll be right back." He released Pinky's hand and climbed out of Tulip's pocket, gulping a little as he observed. As an afterthought, he removed his hat and dropped it back to the pocket. "Keep that safe for me," he requested and climbed higher until he was at Tulip's shoulder.

On one side was a mother and her son, the other a young girl with her beau or possibly her father. Brain didn't know and he didn't ask. He scuttled to Jake's shoulder and looked down, quivering. The propeller's were visible now, so he looked away from them and the people leaping or falling towards them only to see more people sliding along the deck towards the water that way. He saw a man climb over to the other side of the railing and Jake made to follow him. "Not yet," Brain urged. "Not yet, this ship's too heavy." He calculated quickly and carefully, shaking his head. All those people down there would be crushed. "The ship's going to break in two and we're going to fall back into the water. Don't climb over before then."

Tulip nodded, pressed against Jake and clinging as she tried to block out the sound of people screaming as they fell to the icy water below.

* * *

><p>Poor Brain. Even when the ship's sinking we hurt him...<p>

Oh well XD


	15. Chapter 15

Pinky sat in the pocket, looking from the hat to the opening and back to the hat again. "I know he said stay, hat, but he made me promise not to go away from him. And it's bad to break a promise. What should I do?" The hat didn't offer up much advice, but it must've missed Brain's head. "I know! Zort! I'll do this halfway! I'll go up, but I'll still keep you safe! Brilliant!" He placed the hat on his own head as he climbed up out of the pocket, taking it off to hold onto as he peered out. The whole boat was tilted like a giant slide! "Naaaaaaarf..." He whispered, hugging the hat close. Several people slid down, but it didn't look like they were having much fun. Almost unable to tear his eyes away, the promise to Brain had him looking about for the shorter mouse, finally spying him on Jake's shoulder. "Brain!"

"Pinky?" Brain looked down at him, eyes wide with horror. He didn't want his friend to see any of this. "I told you to stay in the pocket!"

"But I promised not to go away from you first!" Pinky explained, starting to climb up Tulip's coat, very conscious of the angle of the ship. "Don't worry though, I'm still keeping your hat safe!"

Tulip reached down to grab him quickly, worried that he'd fall off her coat, and placed him on Jake's shoulder next to Brain. She figured putting him back in her pocket wouldn't do them much good, he might just come back out.

"No, don't-" Brain broke off with a frustrated sound as someone near them tumbled down, striking the propeller one his way and going into a violent tailspin. The mouse could only hope it had knocked him unconscious as he grabbed Pinky's hand. "The railing, Jake. Put her in front of you and hold on."

Jake did as he was told, had already been in the process, and wrapped his arms as tightly as he could through the railing. "Let's go back to the pocket, Pinky. Come on. Be very, _very_ careful. It's going to get bouncy in a minute."

"Oh, but I like bouncy!" Pinky protested, handing Brain his hat. Still, it's what The Brain wanted so he obliged, carefully moving from Jake to Tulip. As he began his descent, his eyes widened as the ship went dark, all the lights flickering out below him and the ship groaned. "Brain, they turned off the lights!"

"I know, Pinky! I know! Just keep climbing down!" He reached the pocket first, her jacket swaying dangerously. _Don't fall, don't fall..._ "You're almost there!" The screams had grown louder, darkness amplifying peoples' fear as well as his own. "Come, Pinky!"

He wanted to do as he said, he really did, but he couldn't make his hands move. His heart was racing, but not in the pleasant way Brain made it thump. "But, Brain, I can't see!" His voice hitched and he squeezed his eyes shut, even though that just made it even more dark. He hoped it would make the boat look brighter in comparison, but when he blinked them open again, it was just as bad. Taking a big gulp of air, Pinky shakily continued to climb down. He couldn't tell if the shaking was him or Tulip's coat.

A loud sound, louder than any of the screaming had him freeze again. The screeching of metal made his ears hurt and he looked down to see part of the ship moving without the rest of it.

They seemed to hang, suspended for a moment, just long enough for Brain to climb up and tear Pinky's hands away from the coat. They fell into the pocket and Brain held Pinky tighter than he ever had before while their half of the ship plummeted back down. "Just hold on, Pinky. I'll take care of you!"

Being with Brain calmed him down almost instantly, and the dark was no longer frightening because pockets were supposed to be dark. Pinky squirmed against him, trying to get closer and wrap his arms around him as well. Everything was shaking and loud outside. "What's going on, Brain? What's the boat doing?" He asked, nuzzling his head against Brain's chest, his ears pinned down flat to minimize the sounds.

"It broke, Pinky. It was too heavy and it broke." They started to slant again and Brain swallowed, hoping Jake would remember to follow his advice. They weren't leaving this pocket again unless they had to. "But it'll be alright. Don't think about it." He stroked Pinky's head gently, heart hammering. What was that silly song? How did it go?

He shifted, nuzzling one of his friend's ears, and sang softly into it to drown out the screams of the dying and the groans of the ship. The tempo slowed considerably to make it last longer. Anything to make him feel better, to make them both feel better. "Just say narf," he sang quietly, voice trembling. "Just say narf." How did it go? How did it go? "If you aim to exclaim, just say narf..."

Pinky didn't know why he felt like crying, he loved this song. He sang it all the time. His fingers curled to grip Brain's damp coat as he buried his face in the crook of his neck. "It doesn't make a difference if you shout or sing..." he kept the tempo, his voice muffled as he tried to join in. "It doesn't... mean anything-!" He couldn't help the break there, his breath hitched. Brain was scaring him a little now. Something bad was happening, something that The Brain couldn't fix. "I want to get off now, Brain. I don't like this ride."

Above them, Jake was shouting at Tulip and they were jostled a bit in the pocket. The smaller mouse didn't relinquish his hold, though he did get a good fistful of the coat material so they wouldn't fall as Tulip was pulled over the railing. "Don't cry, Pinky. I hate it when you cry," he whispered, placing a gentle kiss just below his ear. "It'll be over soon and everything will be alright."

"Mmmm... 'm not crying, Brain." Yet. But Pinky blinked back the tears so as not to make him any more upset than he already was, though he couldn't do much for the way his chest spasmed periodically.

Outside, people screamed for help, the sounds of their bodies striking clanging dully in The Brain's ears. But they were so still now and he didn't enjoy not knowing why, hated this feeling of waiting. If he was going to go, he wanted to see the stars. He didn't want to go in the dark and he didn't want Pinky to have to suffer that either. "Promise me that you won't look down, Pinky. There are a lot of people and I don't want you to look at them." He cupped Pinky's face gently. "Just watch me. Stay with me."

Pinky perked up a little, perhaps Brain had a plan now. He managed a small smile and nodded. "I promise, Brain. Naaarf." Reluctantly, he pulled away from him so they could begin climbing.

"Good." Brain climbed out first after securing his hat beneath his arm. There was a little jolt and he looked down to check on Pinky, but he was right behind him. The ship was sinking now, though, and the water was coming towards them while people still fell. He continued to climb, ignoring Tulip when she began to chant "oh, god" over and over again. He made it to her back and held out a hand to help Pinky up with him.

He didn't look down at all, even when he saw Brain do it, Pinky kept his eyes straight forward. Tulip made him a little nervous, but he distracted himself by looking at the sky. There were so many stars out, just like the night before. As Brain helped him up, Pinky nodded towards the sky. "Remember my confirmations, Brain?" He couldn't see any of them now, unable to remember what they had looked like.

"Constellations," he murmured, the correction automatic. "And, yes, I remember them." He kept a hand in Pinky's as the _Titanic_ sank lower and lower beneath them. His hat was placed back onto his head with the other. The ship was going to suck them down right along with it...

He blinked, though, because Jake had just said the same thing. "Take a deep breath when I say," he continued and Brain's eyes narrowed. He had a plan. But what-? He looked over, watching the water, and then looked back at Pinky. Was there a chance? If they stayed on Tulip, since she had the lifevest, then there was a small one. If they could stay out of the water long enough for the lifeboats to return, for they _must_, then maybe...

"Yes!" he exclaimed, giving Pinky's hand a squeeze. There was a chance, albeit a small one, but it was there. If Pinky could just hold on, if these humans could just continue to surprise them, there was a chance.

Pinky looked over at him upon hearing the familiar exclamation, smiling brightly. Brain must have a plan now! Because from the screams of the other people, he figured this couldn't be a fun ride at all. Maybe there was still time for them to get out of line! Squeezing Brain's hand back, Pinky chirped in return, "Narf!"

"Pinky! Are you pondering what I'm pondering?"

"I think so, Brain! But it's awfully cold for a theme park."

Eyes rolling, though the inanity was ridiculously comforting, Brain grabbed Pinky's shoulders and pulled him down so they were eye level. "No, Pinky. We'll..." Their noses bumped and he trailed off, his mind still swirling over his plan. It was freezing in that water and they were already damp. Gauging the distances of the lifeboats by this time, it would take them a while to row back and begin picking up survivors. He and Pinky needed to stay as warm as possible... While he thought, his hands slid up to Pinky's cheeks and he let their noses stay gently nudged together.

Relishing the warmth coiling inside him as they remained so close, Pinky struggled to keep his eyes open, so content with their proximity and Brain's plan. "We'll what, Brain?" He breathed, leaning in a little further as it occurred to him. "Oh, is it later now?"

It was either going to be their first or their first _and_ last. Brain shivered, though warmth had begun to course through him as well. "It's later," he whispered and finally let his lips meet Pinky's.

Pinky hummed happily, his lips tingling. Everything was tingling actually. His hands twitched, one slipped around to the back of Brain's neck and the other rested on his shoulder. He pressed their lips closer, wiggling excitedly. It was better than he thought it would be! His heart was practically singing! "Naaaaarf." He whispered against their lips, unable to keep from smiling.

Brain made a sound that was almost a laugh, arms wrapping tightly around Pinky's neck to somehow get him closer. "Pinky, if this plan works, we'll have a million more laters," he promised and pressed their lips together again. More firmly, more urgently - just _more_ as the warmth flared into a welcome heat.

Gasping a little, Pinky pulled him closer, lifting him up. He had to break away, fearing his heart would beat right out of his chest. He nuzzled him instead, rubbing their noses together as he panted lightly. "Brain..."

"Pinky," Brain murmured, closing his eyes to give himself a moment to collect himself. A million more laters. "Listen to me. The ship's going to pull us into the water and it's going to seem like it's very far. But we're going to hold onto Tulip's lifevest and we aren't going to let go. Alright? I'm not going to let you go." He opened his eyes, punctuating that with a gentle nuzzle.

"When she reaches the surface, we're going to stay on her head or find a flat surface and stay out of the water. That's very, very important, Pinky. We have to get out of the water and stay out. And then the little boats are going to come back to let people in them and we're going to get on one together. Together, Pinky. I won't try and make you go alone ever again. Do you understand?"

Pinky nodded quickly, matching his still rapid heartrrate. "Right, Brain. Together. Little boats. Stay out of the water. _Troz!_" He set Brain down, his fingers trailing down his arms until he grabbed Brain's hands in his own. Smiling, he bumped their noses again. "Thank you, Brain."

"For what, Pinky?" He kept their noses together, rubbed gently, and threaded their fingers together.

"For keeping us together for always." Pinky giggled, as if it were obvious.

They began to shake and shudder and Brain glanced away. They were out of time. There was a small strap on the back of the lifevest, a little loop. Brain put his arm through it, pulling Pinky down and holding him tightly. "Yes, always," he promised.

"Ready?" Jake screamed. "Ready? Now!"

"Take a deep breath, Pinky!" Brain shouted and took one himself, braced for the cold.

Pinky held on tight to Brain's arm, opening his mouth to take in as much air as possible. They were going to be okay, Brain said so. He turned his face into Brain, eyes widening when the hat, already precariously perched from their kissing, blew right off his head. "Brain! Your special hat!" Pinky yelped, reaching out to grab it before it fell into the water, relaxing his grip on the other mouse in the process.

"No!" Brain shouted, trying to tighten his own hold as the water closed over his head, the cold piercing him, making his hold lessen. He slipped on Tulip's vest, the force of the suction bouncing him more than anticipated.

Pinky hadn't known water could be so mean! It felt as if it was ripping him away, pushing him somewhere else, far away from Brain. His arms flailed around, one gripping the hat while the other sought out the comfort of Brain's fur, but all he felt was cold and water. He didn't know which way was up, he just knew that it was really, really cold and Brain wasn't anywhere. He wasn't there.

Brain had felt Pinky slip right through his fingers and he tried looking, searching for him desperately, but the water was so dark and cold. He hadn't gotten in a deep enough breath before being surrounded by it either, so he was dizzy and the salt water was beginning to sting his eyes painfully so he squeezed them shut. _Pinky!_

He was vaguely aware of being jerked upwards or sideways or downwards - he couldn't tell. But he was suddenly above water, gasping and coughing, a little voice among over a thousand. Tulip was screaming for Jake and Brain took a deep breath to shout for Pinky when he was suddenly dunked again. His yelp came out in soundless bubbles and he released her lifevest to kick to the surface himself.

"Pinky!" he wailed, coughing desperately. The people around him were splashing and flailing wildly, creating waves that sent him this way and that until he was able to catch sight of a hat floating nearby. "Pinky!" he shouted again and climbed onto someone's shoulder in order to make the leap into the hat. It was swatted carelessly and he was sent further away from the crowd, spinning wildly. "No! Pinky!"

It felt like little sharp things were pricking the taller mouse all over as he broke through to the surface, it was so cold. Pinky struggled to keep his head up, but the screaming bodies around him sent up waves that nearly swallowed him. He coughed up mouthfuls of bitter, icy water.

"Brain!" Pinky cried out, flailing about in a circle as he tried to be heard over the other desperate wails. "Brain!" He narrowly avoided being crushed between two life vests, gasping and kicking as he kept a firm grip on the hat. He couldn't lose it, he had to keep it safe. Pinky sought out safer waters after he was sent under by another wave, his little white head bobbed on the ocean's dark surface. It was so hard to swim through, the water was so cold. Brain didn't like the cold. Where was he? Where was Brain? "Brain!"

There was a whistle in the distance. Brain got onto the brim of the hat, whimpering when it tilted dangerously forward. He dipped his hands into the water anyway and started to try and paddle towards it. His breaths were coming out in visible pants and he just needed to get closer and get to Pinky. Oh, god, what if he'd gotten sucked down? "You sh-should've stayed in th-the b-boat!" he screamed. "Pinky!" He slipped, falling back into the hat and reversing what little progress he'd manage to make.

He climbed back up, shivering all over. "Pinky! Don't die, Pinky, or I sh-shall have to hurt you!" Hot tears were tracking down his face, but he wiped them away. He didn't need any more wet in his fur. What if Pinky made it to the surface but forgot to find somewhere dry? What if Pinky did find somewhere dry, but left it? "Pinky!" he called again, but his voice was quieter, overwhelmed by more coughing. It was so cold...

Pinky heard the shrill whistle pierce the cacophony of crying, so he set off that direction. Surely Brain would hear the whistle and come over, to see what it was. To see if it was him. He'd find him if he was by the whistle, he was sure of it. Maybe the whistle was Brain! Paddling towards the sound with all his might, Pinky tried very hard not to think about the chill stilling his bones.

He found the man with the whistle, despairing for only a moment that it wasn't The Brain, before he clambered up his life vest to cling to his shoulder above the water. Brain had said to stay out of the water. He'd also said... said... He couldn't remember, it felt much colder up here exposed to the air and he was so tempted to go back to the mean water. Brain wouldn't like that though, so he stayed put, the man didn't even notice he was there as he continued to blow his whistle. Pinky couldn't help but just sit there and cry for a minutes. His dress clung to him uncomfortably and he couldn't stop shaking and his mouth was filled with salt and he was alone.

Once the heaving sobs and hiccups and tears were out of his system, Pinky was just left with his nonstop shivering. And Brain's hat. Hugging it close, he rubbed his face against the wet material. "D-d-don't wuh-worry, hat!" Pinky's teeth chattered, surely biting down on his numb lips a few times. "B-b-brain will f-find us soo-soon. You're his f-favorite, sp-special hat."

Time passed, Brain making very little progress. His hands had begun shaking entirely too much to be used as effective paddles and his vision kept getting blurred by tears anyway, so there was little use in trying to move forward when he didn't know where forward was. He continued to try and call out to his friend, hoping to be heard now that so many people were falling silent. But his voice was ragged and he was rapidly growing silent as well. "P-p-p-pinky..."

Where were the lifeboats? Where _were_ they? It shouldn't take this long. He'd calculated it! Twenty boats that weren't even at max capacity should've been able to come and get them by this point. They should've come back; why weren't any of them coming back? He just needed to find Pinky first and then he'd find out just what was going on with them. With Pinky's help he could row. They'd paddled along on the ocean before, hadn't they?

Then again, they'd also had a raft, been in the tropics, and had makeshift oars. But they could still make it. He just needed his friend; he needed Pinky. "Pinky!" he wailed and the whistles he'd been following fell silent. He slipped down in the hat and covered his face, breaking down into heaving sobs. _Now_ what?

His fur became stiff, it took some time for Pinky to realize it was because the water he'd been drenched in had turned to ice. He looked around from his perch, hoping to catch a glimpse of Brain, but he only saw people bobbing in the water. Jake and Tulip caught his eye, floating on a door a little ways off. He longed to swim over to them, Brain had been with them though it didn't look like that now, but the memory of swimming through the icy ocean kept him clinging to the man's shoulder. Besides, if Brain had been over there, he would've come to find him on this whistle man. He would've heard him.

"Brain? B-b-brain!" He cried out. "P-p-p-poit!" There was no answer, but he knew he'd come. As long as he had the hat and whistle, Brain would find him. It was then that he realized how quiet it had gotten. Pinky trembled, his chest ached, but his tight hold on the hat never lessened. He blinked up at the man with the whistle, hoping for another shrill bleat. "No, Mr. Whistle Man... Y-you have to keep blowing..." Pinky pleaded, crawling up to look in the man's face. "They w-won't hear you if you s-stop! P-p-please keep blowing!" Pinky placed his paws against the cold, still face. "Mr. Whistle Man? M-mr. Whistle Man, please! Brain won't find us if you stop! P-p-please!" The head lolled to one side, eyes empty and unseeing, the whistle still lodged between his lips. "Please... Brain... Brain..." Pinky whimpered, resting his head on the icy cheek.

It was a struggle to pry the whistle free, but he managed. Unfortunately his breaths were too strained and shallow. His uncontrollable shivering made it impossible to gain enough air to make any noise with the tiny silver bobble. He barely managed a wheeze.

"Oh, hat, it's not working!" He wailed, his voice cracking. Hugging both hat and whistle together, Pinky curled up on the dead man's shoulder, keeping an eye on Jake and Tulip while periodically scanning the dark depths for Brain. "Brain's okay, hat. He's B-brain!" he reassured the hat while fighting back the lump of doubt in his throat. "He wouldn't leave us behind... naaaaarf..."

"Oars!" The voice echoed eerily in the night, Brain's ears perking. He got to his feet, small sobs still escaping, body trembling fiercely. He managed to climb onto the brim, though his fingers protested having to grip anything. He tumbled back when his eyes were blinded by a light, crying out feebly. But there was a boat, a little boat had finally gotten there. What had taken them so long and had they found Pinky...?

He stood back up, hearing the order of "Check them!" and watched with dull horror while the small crew lifted and discarded bodies. There were so many... Why were there so many...? He hoped and wished more than anything that Pinky wasn't one of them, bobbing lifeless and blue. He hoped that Pinky wasn't alone and scared if he was alive, hoped he hadn't died alone and scared if he wasn't.

"Careful with your oars. Don't hit them." The Brain started to slip back down into the hat, his shivering legs unable to hold his weight. There was only one boat, only one out of twenty. Why and why so late? Pinky...

"Is there anyone alive out there?" the human shouted and Brain only blinked wearily as the hat he was in was pushed carelessly aside by the oars. But one of the flashlights was shone directly at him and he lifted a hand to cover his eyes.

"By god, is that Lord Brain?" Brain jolted a bit, surprised that anyone of the crew would recognize him, and managed a pleading sound as the oar that had been used to swat him away pulled him nearer. They plucked him out of the water, hat and all, and Brain coughed. "Dear god, man, you're nearly frozen. We need to get him back, Mr. Lowe!"

"W-w-w-wait, I c-can't- Y-you h-have to k-keep searching!" Eyes going wide, Brain shakily got to his feet. "N-n-no!"

"We can't go back after every survivor; it would take too long." He shone his flashlight over the still bodies of a mother holding her infant. "We waited too long already... Move forward, men. Hello! Is anyone alive out there?"

Brain struggled weakly as he was lifted from the hat and wrapped in a small blanket. However welcome the warmth was, he couldn't stay there if Pinky was still out in that water. "N-n-no!" he protested. "I c-can't- I n-n-need- My whole w-world... P-pinky, please, I n-need..."

"Calm yourself, sir. We're looking."

"N-no...! P-p-pinky!" he tried, coughing harshly.

"Can anyone hear me?" the captain of the tiny boat called, ignoring the mouse. "Keep checkin' them! Keep looking! Is anyone alive out there?"

* * *

><p>Skimmingsurfaces and her stolen dA AN:<p>

My heart hurts from all the feelings /3

Pinky finally got his later, but that just breaks my heart even more. And Brain, oh, poor Brain. Thinking the worst, and rightfully so.

Egad, so depressing!


	16. Chapter 16

Minutes or hours could have passed, Pinky wasn't sure. His blue eyes glazed over, half-lidded as he struggled to stay awake. If he fell asleep he might miss Brain. His body no longer shivered, he didn't even feel cold anymore. Just tired. Really tired. "Brain... I'm sleepy..." he murmured into the hat, breathing in what little of Brain's scent lingered amid the salt water. _Don't fall asleep, Pinky, or I shall have to hurt you._ His mind supplied. "Okay, Brain. I won't."

There was a light in the distance. Far away. And voices. Pinky blinked sluggishly. His dress clung to him like a second skin as he lifted his upper body to squint at the light. It was a little boat.

"Brain?" Pinky groaned as he sat up all the way, his muscles and bones protesting any movement. "Wait... I'm over h-here..." His voice was soft and hoarse, it couldn't carry. "_Narf!_" And he was so small. They didn't see him. They went right past him. Whimpering, Pinky curled back up in his ball, limbs aching.

A splash caught his attention next. Tulip was fighting through the icy ocean, making her way towards him. She looked so bloated and pale in her life vest, it frightened him as she got closer. Pinky stared at her until she reached out to take the whistle from him. "No..." he whined, but it slipped from his grasp rather easily.

The shrill sound of the whistle pierced the silence, reawakening him in a way. Tulip kept blowing frantically, desperately. Determined. She helped Pinky onto her shoulder, the little mouse burrowing in her limp hair, still clutching the hat.

Brain slipped from the bench he'd been placed on, rolling from the blanket. He staggered to the edge, climbing shakily as his ears perked. It was so faint, but it was getting louder. "G-go b-back!" He clung to the edge. _Please... please..._ "G-g-go b-back!"

"There's nothin'-" But it finally grew loud enough for their own ears.

"Come about!" Mr. Lowe shouted and the lifeboat began to turn slowly, the lights cutting through the crowd. They finally lit upon a redhead blowing frantically and Brain slipped down with a wrenching sob. Hadn't he told Pinky to hold onto her? He'd _told_ him not to let go. He'd been _right_.

"P-pinky," he whispered and didn't even fight when he was wrapped in the blanket again. "P-p-pinky..." He was gone. His whole world was gone...

The boat was coming back. It was coming back, but Tulip didn't stop blowing the whistle. Her life depended on it, her promise to Jake depended on it. She refused to look back at the door she'd been drifting on, her eyes fixated on the glow in front of her. They would be saved... her and Pinky, they'd be saved.

Pinky cherished the sound of the whistle, it kept his eyes open, though that also could have been the bright light he was staring at. "Brain... it's a little boat..." His free hand grasped at Tulip's hair as they were suddenly moved. She was being tugged forward, he could feel it, and people were yelling, worried about how cold she was. He didn't even realize the whistle had stopped.

"W-wait." Tulip croaked, her frozen hands trying to gesture to her shoulder. "Th-there's... th-th-there's..."

"Is there someone back in the water? Is there another survivor?" Mr. Lowe asked, his loud voice overpowering any of Pinky's attempts to call for Brain.

"W-will you l-let her t-t-talk?" Brain snapped, some of his usual verve in his voice. If it was Jake, they'd have to get him out quickly. Stupid, stupid humans. He closed his eyes, head falling back. Stupid...

"O-on me." Tulip finally managed. "Th-there's s-someone on me." She finally gathered enough coordination to feel around for Pinky, her fingers slipping on his dress. One of the rowers, moved to help her, lifting the little mouse up carefully.

"B-brain...?" He blinked up and around, confused at how he ended up in the air. "P-p-poit."

His eyes opened slowly, his heart thudding painfully fast when it had been going so slowly just a moment before. "P-p-p-p-p-" He couldn't get the name out, choking on fresh sobs and wrestling with the cold that still plagued him. He tried to stand, tried to make them put his Pinky down, but couldn't manage that either. "Pinky!"

It took a lot of effort, but Pinky didn't care. He'd heard him, he knew he did. He turned to the direction he'd heard Brain's voice, his vision already blurred from exhaustion and tears. "B-b-brain! Brain!" His scratchy voice wailed, reaching out to him from his high perch, the hat still in one hand. He just wanted to hold him, to be safe, to make sure he was really there. Pinky was lowered beside Brain, sitting down since his legs still ached and refused to listen to him.

The Brain wriggled, fighting to get the blanket unwrapped so he could get to the mouse. "Pinky," he wheezed. "Pink-k-ky." He finally managed, his frozen fingers cooperating enough for him to reach out and drag Pinky close. "You're f-freezing," he whispered and shakily got the blanket around them both. "P-pinky..."

"Mmmm... mmm... 'm not c-cold, Brain. J-just sleepy." Pinky blubbered out, the chattering of his teeth betraying his words. At least he hadn't been cold until the blanket was wrapped around him and Brain was there to snuggle with. The contrasting warmth made him realize how frozen he really was. "B-brain, I f-f-found..." A shiver ran up and down his spine and he nuzzled against him. "I f-f-f... I k-k-kept your h-hat s-s-safe. Nnnn-nnnarf." He held it up with a trembling paw, his grip on it as tight as ever.

Brain stared from Pinky to the hat and back again before wrapping his arms even tighter around Pinky, pressing close, rubbing his back to try and provide some warmth. The hat had kept him cocooned from quite a bit of the cold, it seemed, if his poor sweet friend was this bad. "You're s-so much more imp-portant than a h-hat..." He let out a little gasping sob into his friend's ear. "I t-told you to h-hold onto m-me. I t-told you. Together. T-together, P-p-pinky."

Hearing Brain cry made Pinky want to cry too as his body shook with tremors. "I-I'm so-sorry, Brain... I'm s-s-sorry." He had said that, he could remember now, but in the face of seeing his favorite hat blow away... Pinky just didn't want him to be sad. "D-don't c-cry, Brain...!" Of course, he said this while he himself was sobbing breathily. "D-d-don't be s-s-sad!"

A second blanket, one actually meant for Pinky, was draped around the two mice. Pinky remained clinging to Brain, however, breathing in as much of his scent as possible through the wet and the cold.

Brain picked the second blanket up to try and get the ice rubbed away from his friend, nudging Pinky back gently no matter how much he wanted to stay close. "J-j-just stay st-still," he ordered, wiping at his tears. "Y-you're more important than a h-hat," he repeated. "I c-can't t-t-take over the w-w-world with a h-hat. I c-can't p-p-ponder with a h-hat. A h-hat w-w-won't fill my s-stomach with b-butterflies." He stopped rubbing Pinky with the blanket to gently frame his face. "I c-can't have l-laters with a h-hat."

"P-p-poit." Pinky murmured, capable of enough movement so that he could at least bump their noses together. Their very cold noses. "I-I-I'd g-give you a later, r-r-right now b-but I can't f-f-feel my lips, Brain."

"L-l-later, Pinky. L-l-later we'll h-have..." He realized the ridiculousness of what he was saying and let out a choked little laugh, pressing his face into Pinky's neck and nuzzling. "W-w-we're together, P-pinky..." He leaned back, lifted the second blanket again in his shaking hands, and draped it over Pinky, working more ice from his fur. "M-my pretty P-pinky," he whispered.

"I m-missed you, Brain." Pinky tugged the first blanket more securely around Brain, finally dropping the hat in exchange for holding onto him. "Y-y-you're c-cold too." His blue eyes had lost the glassy look to them and he wasn't nearly as tired. It was a different kind of exhaustion now, but he still didn't want to sleep, too busy looking at and touching Brain.

"I'm alright, P-pinky." He had his world back. He was alive; he was okay. "I missed y-you, too. N-never scare me like that again. I d-don't know what I would've d-done without you."

Pinky stroked Brain's side absently, his eyelids drooping. "I'm sorry..." he whispered again, "I w-w-won't. Z-z-z-poit."

"N-no sleeping, P-pinky. I know y-you're tired, but stay awake. J-just for a l-little while." Just until Brain knew for absolute certainty that he was going to be alright. He wrapped the blanket tightly around him before climbing into Pinky's lap and holding on. "C-can you d-do that for me, P-pinky? Stay awake."

With a nod, Pinky cuddled up with Brain, tucking his face in between Brain's neck and shoulder. He could do that much, since he'd failed to listen in the first place and it got them separated in the ocean. "It was s-s-scary, Brain. And lonely and a-alone." His grip tightened as he recalled sitting atop the dead whistle man, and all the quiet people floating around them.

"It's alright n-now, Pinky." Brain stroked his back gently with one hand, brushed the other through the messy fur atop Pinky's head. "I've g-got you now. I f-found you. W-were you by the whistle the whole t-time? I was h-heading for you."

"Y-yes, I w-went to M-mr. Whistle M-m-man, b-because I thought y-you'd g-go there." Pinky explained into Brain's shoulder. "I-if I was th-there y-you'd f-f-find me. N-narf." He lifted his head to look into his eyes directly. "I knew y-you w-would, Brain."

"Yes." Brain lifted his hands to Pinky's cheeks again, caressed gently. "I told y-you I wouldn't make you r-ride a little boat a-alone again. How did you f-find Tulip?" he asked quietly. The young woman was wrapped in her own blanket, pressed against the other side of the lifeboat. Brain's heart ached for her because she was alone; either they hadn't found Jake or... He touched his nose to Pinky's, quietly grateful.

Blinking slowly, Pinky turned to look at Tulip. "M-miss Tulip? She f-f-found me..." His eyes searched the faces of the rest of the men on the boat. "She w-w-was over with J-jake... I c-c-couldn't b-blow the whistle s-s-so she did." The whistle that had been in the dead man's mouth. He'd saved them, even thought he hadn't been awake to do so. Pinky rubbed his nose against Brain's, desperate for the contact, trying to forget how cold and hard the man's face had been. "W-w-where's Jake?"

"Oh, Pinky..." The Brain didn't want to explain that. The human had helped them so much and Pinky had become his friend so quickly... He didn't want to explain. "I-I... I don't know w-where he is." He closed his eyes, rubbing his nose right back.

"B-but he was w-w-with her... on the d-door..." Pinky scrunched his eyes as he tried to remember. No, Jake hadn't been on the door, but he was next to it. Still in the water. "D-d-did she leave h-him b-b-behind, B-brain?" She came over to him alone, Tulip was alone when he looked up. There was no one else by the door. "W-w-why w-would she leave him, B-brain?" His voice broke; Jake had been in the water just like Whistle Man. Just like all the quiet people. He and Tulip hadn't been. Jake had been. "B-brain...!" His eyes welled up and his shoulders shook, he didn't want to think about Jake in the water.

Oh, no. Oh, no... All those people in the water and Pinky had been around them. He'd seen them. Brain trembled, brushing his thumbs beneath Pinky's eyes. "Don't d-do that, Pinky. Don't think about i-it." He swallowed heavily, his breath hitching. Or. It had been or. If it had been Pinky... He'd thought it was and it had killed him inside. "I'm s-sorry, Pinky. I'm s-so sorry I c-couldn't find y-you s-sooner."

Pinky was already overcome with silent sobs, not enough air still for full out wailing. His friend was one of the quiet people now, and that was so frightening. Frightening because he'd been awake and talking only a short while ago. But what bothered him the most was that he'd been left behind, somewhere in the cold ocean. "She left h-him. She left him!" He hiccuped breathily, not nearly loud enough for anyone other than Brain to hear him. Pinky tried to wrap himself around Brain, trying to calm down because it hurt to cry but it also hurt that he'd never see Jake again. Tulip would never see Jake again.

Pinky could've still been out there with Whistle Man and never know what happened to Brain. "Brain, don't go. Don't. P-poit."

"No, shh, no. I'm not going anywhere. I h-have you, Pinky. My pretty Pinky." He held on tightly, nuzzling gently. "My s-sweet, wonderful Pinky... I'm s-sorry. I'm sorry."

"There's another!" Mr. Lowe shouted and Brain carefully helped Pinky to the edge of the bench.

"Come now, Pinky. Let's sit closer to the edge, out of the way."

Taking big gulps of air to help himself settle, Pinky let Brain move them reluctantly. "B-but it's near the quiet people, Brain." He picked up Brain's hat as they edged over, not wanting to forget it. It had made him feel better before when he was lonely, he didn't want to make it feel lonely in return. Pinky ran his finger along the brim. "W-w-were you in this little b-b-boat the whole time?" He asked curiously, trying to think about something else, anything else.

"No." Brain settled one of the blankets down, not as exactly as he would've liked, but his hands still shook. "Sit there, Pinky. L-let me get the blanket around y-you."

"You too." Pinky added, sitting down and held up the hat. "And hat. T-troz."

"Y-yes, me too." He took the hat, placing it back on his head where it belonged. Pinky had gone through all the trouble of keeping it safe, after all. He settled himself back into Pinky's lap after pulling the first blanket onto his shoulders. Trembling, he dragged the second around them both and nuzzled into Pinky's neck softly. "I-I was in a b-boat h-hat, and I w-was trying to p-paddle to you." He rubbed his hands together, lifting them to his mouth to blow warm air onto them, but he couldn't quite drag enough into his lungs to make it worthwhile.

Pinky watched him for a moment, then took Brain's hands in his own and rubbed them gently. They were really, very cold. He brought their hands up to his mouth and blew too, with slightly better luck. He smiled a little at the thought of a hat boat. "L-like the o-one we were in b-before?"

"Yes." He watched Pinky a moment, a small smile tugging at his lips. "Y-you're doing it again, P-pinky," he murmured and just hoped the embarrassing admission would make his friend feel better. "My h-heart's being... odd."

Blue eyes gazed at him curiously over their joined hands. Slowly, Pinky placed them near his mouth again and blew before lowering them to give him room to lean forward. His tummy did flip flops at Brain's admission, so that really only meant one thing. He touched their foreheads together, his smile stretching wider. "It's later now, Brain."

It was his only warning before he kissed him properly, his lips no longer numb.

Brain's eyes went wide at Pinky's boldness before falling shut on a soft, needy sound that he'd never willingly admit to making. He'd been so completely worried, floating in the hat, listening to the fading outcries of fellow passengers and unable to do anything but hope to see this mouse again. Alive. He was really alive; they were both really alright.

They could have their million laters, starting with this one. Heart hammering, stomach filled with butterflies, Brain let his mind empty of anything but _Pinky_ and let the kiss deepen.

Pinky released Brain's hands so he could pull him in closer, wrapping his arms around him as he projected his own need into their kiss. They were together, they weren't lost in the ocean, they were together and safe on a little boat. That was all Pinky ever really wanted. And the kissing. He wanted that too.

Breaking apart for some air, he pondered that this was a rather efficient way to warm themselves up. "Naaaaarf!" Pinky hummed, cuddling with Brain beneath the blankets as the ocean rocked below them.

"Narf, indeed," Brain murmured, nuzzling his cagemate. They were alright and they were going to stay that way. "You can sleep now, Pinky. By morning, we'll be on our way back home."

"Right, Brain..." Pinky yawned, laying back and taking Brain with him, curling around him. His eyes slipped shut and he nudged his nose against Brain's cheek, releasing a deep sigh. "Home together."

"Yes." Pink eyes fluttered shut, the megalomaniac discovering just how exhausted a few hours of pure worry could make him. He kept Pinky close, fingers curled into the fabric of the dress. "Always."

* * *

><p>YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!<br>THEY FOUND EACH OTHER!  
>If anyone thought that they wouldn't, for shame.<br>It's impossible to split the two of them up!


	17. Chapter 17

It was only an hour later that another ship arrived and the cheering of those on his lifeboat awakened him. He gave a tired smile, took in its name, and snuggled back against Pinky, who'd also been startled awake. He soothed his companion back to sleep -

"Another big boat, Brain?" he asked with a big, sleepy yawn.

"It's going to take us home, Pinky. Just sleep. I won't go anywhere."

- and stayed awake only long enough to ensure that they wouldn't be forgotten. When they were pressed into a nurse's arms aboard the RMS _Carpathia_, he fell back to sleep and missed the remaining four hours of loading so few survivors - only 710 of them out of 2200. The rest were what Pinky had called "the quiet people."

He awoke wearily, surprised to find himself in a bed. A child's bed, but a bed nonetheless. Brain rubbed his eyes, the warmth of his hands making him wonder if it had all just been a terrible nightmare. But then he looked and saw that his paws were bandaged. He managed to get one unwound, saw the beginning signs of frostbite, but he'd had so much worse. They would heal. He unwrapped the other and flexed his fingers carefully. There wasn't anymore pain and they were warm. He'd be fine. "Pinky, are you- Pinky?"

The smaller mouse sat up straighter, realizing that he was very much alone in the bed, and looked around wildly until his gaze settled on the familiar mouse. He lay across from him in another child-sized bed. Brain patted his heart, trying to steady its racing beat. It didn't work, so the next thing to do was wake his companion up to make sure he was alright. "Pinky!" he called. "Pinky, wake up!"

The bed was awfully warm and comfortable, so waking up did not seem to fit his priorities despite the command. Rolling over onto his stomach with a soft mumble, he nestled further into the bed. But now that he'd heard his voice, Pinky found the bed to be quite lonely and not nearly as warm without The Brain. That just wouldn't do. He yawned loudly, blinking away sleep only to get a eyeful of pillow. Well, that wasn't right. Pinky tilted his head to the side, blue eyes searching the room until they fell upon Brain in the bed opposite him. A bright smile chased away the lingering lines of exhaustion, his whole face lighting up.

"'Morning, Brain!" Pinky tried to chirp, his voice still a little scratchy but not lacking in exuberance. "_Narf! _ Why are you all the way over there? I didn't kick you in my sleep again, did I?"

"No, Pinky. The humans put us in separate beds for propriety or something similar." Brain waved a hand dismissively, noticing his hat on the little bedside table nearby, but he didn't reach for it, choosing instead to beckon Pinky over. "Come, Pinky. This bed's entirely too large."

"'Kay!" He wiggled out from under the blankets and scampered over to the other bed. Pinky crawled under the covers and snuggled up next to Brain. "Hi, Brain!"

Brain tucked his arms around his friend, nuzzling him gently. "Hello, Pinky. How are you feeling? Still cold?"

Pinky shook his head. "Not anymore. I'm nice and warm now! Poit! What about you, Brain?" His eyes flitted over to look at one of his hands. "Your hands not shaky-shivery anymore?"

"No." He looked down at his hands, a light blush flooding his cheeks. "You could still hold them if you wanted to," he offered quietly. The excess of affection seemed a bit embarrassing now that they were on another ship and heading back towards the States. They'd be back to the lab in a few days and then it would be back to taking over the world.

Latching onto them immediately after the permission was granted, he pulled them up to his face and nuzzled them. "Naaaarf... They are warm!" Pinky observed, a pleased smile forming. He tilted his head a little to look at Brain, his eyes drawn to the blush. "Your face is too! _Troz!_" He couldn't help but giggle, all too familiar with what that meant now.

"Yes, I suppose it is. Now, Pinky, you know when we return to the lab..." He trailed off, tongue-tied. He didn't exactly _want_ to end this affectionate streak, but it certainly couldn't continue without rules. They had a world to conquer and that had to be the priority. There wouldn't be time for kisses and cuddling.

Pinky watched him expectantly, waiting for him to finish his sentence. When he didn't, he nudged him gently. "Did your brain fly away again, Brain?" He hoped that wasn't the case, he liked that his Brain with the big words and the scowly scowls would hug and kiss him like he did when he was all silly-like. "Can we bring it back?"

"No, Pinky. It didn't fly away again. I just..." He leaned away from Pinky a little, frowning. "You know we're still going to take over the world, don't you? This plan may have failed, but there'll be another when we return to the lab." He had to take over, the tragedy only cementing his desire for world conquest. When he ruled the world, there would be enough lifeboats on every ship. When he ruled the world, a ship wouldn't be pushed too far too fast. When he ruled the world, Pinky would always be safe and never, ever have to face the horrid things he'd faced in that water.

"Oh, of course, Brain!" Pinky rolled his eyes. "It wouldn't be any fun if we didn't try and take over the world every tomorrow night! _Zort! _And besides," He gave Brain's hands a squeeze as he settled down further into the blankets. "It'll make you happy. And that makes me happy! So we'll both have a fun-fun silly-willy time!" With a laugh, he let go of Brain's hands to hug him, nuzzling his ear in the process.

"But Pinky..." Brain furrowed his brow, ear twitching at the nuzzle, and couldn't help but lean into the embrace. Maybe it wouldn't... _really_ hurt to be in a relationship of sorts with his sidekick, particularly since he was still so willing to help in his ultimate goal. "There will be boundaries. No laters or unnecessary embraces or snuggling while in the midst of a plan. Or while I'm creating the plan. Understand?"

Glancing upwards at the ceiling as he thought about it, Pinky hummed. "I think so, Brain. But what if it's a really long plan like this one? You snuggled with me after dancing! _Narf!_" He wiggled happily as he remembered their fun dancing, Brain's initiation of some of their hugs, and all the butterflies that came with it. But he'd been acting funny that night, right, Neverland. The thought had him stilling as he continued. "Unless... poit. It wasn't only cuz your brain went away, was it?"

It had been, really, but he didn't want to upset Pinky with that unfortunate truth. "No, Pinky, that was... heat of the moment," he lied. "So there will be occasional... lapses. I suppose."

Satisfied with the answer, Pinky went back to his cuddling. "Can we have a lapsy-thingy now? Oh, wait, we already are! _Troz!_" He giggled, amused with himself. "When are we going to get home, Brain?"

"I... well... I'm not entirely sure, Pinky. We were only four days into our journey and I'd calculated for at least seven. I imagine the _Carpathia_ is going much slower, so it could be three to four days." He abruptly realized that he had no idea what time it was or where exactly in the Atlantic they were... and that this now gave him three to four days of no take over the world ploys... three to four days of uninterrupted time with Pinky. The blush flooded his cheeks again, deeper this time. A million laters.

"Poit. I hope it's soon, Brain. I don't really want to be on anymore boats right now." Pinky decided after he'd thought about it some. Big boats or little boats. Maybe they could ride around in automobiles, that was fun. And if they broke, they wouldn't end up all cold and wet. He was about to ask something concerning their future plan thingies involving boats, but when he looked up, he saw Brain's face had gone all red again. It made his heart go pitter-patter, a wonderful feeling. He rubbed his nose against Brain's cheek, the blush making him feel extra affectionate.

"No more boats for a very long time," Brain agreed, turning his head to press their noses together. He rubbed gently, hardly aware of it. "But we should be very safe on this one as long as they don't go too quickly, and you and I are going to stay together no matter what occurs." He lifted a hand, tweaking Pinky's ear fondly.

Pinky's ear twitched at the touch. "It's not going to break?" He asked, just wanting to be sure, so he could prepare properly if they needed to get in the little boats again. And as long as they stayed together, both going on the same boat and not letting go to save hats, they'd be okay. He pet Brain's side softly. "I'm sorry I let go of you, Brain."

"It won't break as long as they're careful. Perhaps later we can go meet the captain and you can ask him if he's being careful." He took the hand that wasn't petting him and held it to his cheek, eyes closing for a moment. "And I found you again, so it's alright." Pink eyes opened again, latching onto blue. "If you were to do it again, I would have to hurt you."

"_Narf_!" Pinky laughed at the familiar saying, but nodded immediately, absently stroking Brain's cheek. "Right, Brain! I won't, promise!" It was far too terrifying being in the ocean all alone, he certainly wouldn't forget that. And if he didn't forget then he'd always remember, so he felt good about promising this time around. "And if you get lost, I'll come find you!"

"I think it would be simpler all around if neither of us got lost then," Brain muttered, but pressed a kiss to Pinky's hand just the same.

A shiver ran up Pinky's spine, but in the good way. Warmth flared in his chest that urged him to move his hand away and replace it with his lips, so he did so. It was light, a simple brush, but it delighted him all the same. He pulled back just a little so he could do it again.

Brain met him that time, though, putting a hand to the back of his neck to draw him closer, and it irritated him to no end when someone nearby cleared their throat. "Yes?" he asked, flicking only his gaze to the foot of the bed. A man stood there with a clipboard and pen, watching them with a lifted brow.

"I apologize, sir, but I need your names for the survivor count."

Brain winced a bit at the word, drawing back from Pinky as he considered whether or not they should stick to their identities, but sighed. Their real identities would get them through customs faster and no one would bother to find out if he was really first class or not while aboard the ship. Then again, he and Pinky could sneak away when they reached shore, anyway. No one would miss them. "Mr. The Brain of California and this is my... partner, Pinky."

"Right, sir." He wrote it down and made to move on, but something nagged at The Brain so he rubbed his brow.

"Excuse me, wait. Do you have a complete list?"

"As complete as we've got so far, sir. Some have yet to awaken." His gaze filled with pity that irritated the smaller mouse. He hated being pitied. "Do you need to find someone?"

"Yes, I... yes. Pinky..." He hated to ask. "What was Jake's last name? Do you remember it?"

Pinky's content smile faded a little, his ears drooping. He averted his gaze to his hands, now toying with the blanket. "Dolphin... poit." He said quietly, suddenly feeling really bad for being so happy only a few seconds ago.

"Don't be sad, Pinky," Brain murmured while the man flipped through the pages of his clipboard. He could only hope he'd been right about Miss Tulip one last time and held Pinky's hand gently.

"Ah, here's one. A miss Tulip Dolphin. She's on deck now with the third class passengers. Were you wanting to see her?"

"No," Brain said quietly, giving Pinky's hand a squeeze. "No, that's all. Thank you."

"Right, sir." He doffed his cap. "Miss," he said to Pinky and Brain only rolled his eyes before lifting his free hand to Pinky's face.

"Pinky, did you hear that? What Miss Tulip's name is now? She didn't leave Jake behind. She didn't."

Sniffling and blinking quite rapidly, Pinky nodded. "Oh, Brain, she didn't forget him!" he cried out, wrapping his arms around Brain in his relief, squeezing tightly as he buried his face in his shoulder. "Miss Tulip didn't leave him!"

Brain almost immediately found himself unable to breathe, hands flailing a little. "That's- yes- Pinky, I would... appreciate full use of my... lungs!"

"Oops!" Pinky let go and leaned back, smiling sheepishly through his happy tears. "Sorry, Brain. _Narf!_" He scrubbed at his eyes, to get them to stop watering, sniffling still. "I'm so glad he didn't get forgotten."

"Pinky, who could ever forget that reprobate?" Shaking his head, Brain reached out to stroke his cagemate's sides gently. "He helped us quite a bit."

"He found our hat boat and let us ride on his shoulder." Pinky nodded, lowering his hands to his lap. "He invited me to that dinner too! So I could see you!" His smile remained, though it appeared softer as his ears wilted a bit. "I hope it didn't hurt."

"Pinky..." Why on earth would someone as sweet as this stay with him? Brain wondered and wrapped his arms around his companion, pulling him down. "It didn't hurt. He fell asleep, that's all. He fell asleep, most likely holding miss Tulip's hand, so it didn't hurt at all."

As he sighed, his chest felt a little lighter and he gently returned Brain's embrace, not wanting to squeeze his chubby pink lungs again. "That's good, Brain. He's so nice, and so's Miss Tulip. Poit. Will we get to see her again, Brain? I didn't get to thank her for picking me up and blowing the whistle."

"Perhaps we will." Brain gave Pinky a gentle nuzzle. "I need to thank her for that as well."

Pinky closed his eyes as he traced Brain's ear, humming quietly. "Naaaaarf." It was good to be together, even if they didn't get to cuddle or have laters, he liked taking over the world too. Not that he'd object if later came along. He opened his eyes as he was reminded of the man with the list who interrupted their previous encounter. "Brain? How come I'm not your wife anymore?" It was said with curiosity, no hints of him being upset with this development in any way. "I'm your partner?"

"Of course, Pinky. There's no point in continuing the ruse of you being my wife, so there's little reason to not be honest. You are my..." Brain cleared his throat a little nervously. "My partner - in a working relationship as well as a... romantic one."

He blinked for a moment, then Pinky gasped and wiggled. "Oh, but Brain! What will people say? They'll say we're in love!" Wait a minute. Oh, right. Pinky laughed, nuzzling his cagemate tenderly. "And we are! I love you, Brain."

"Ah... mm..." Brain averted his gaze, fingers curling into the fabric of the dress Pinky still wore. He'd tried to say the words when he'd thought they were about to die, but without that particularly strong motivation, he found them difficult and illogical. Pinky's claim seemed unfounded and made little sense, as well, making him hesitate.

But his friend's touch was incredibly gentle for someone so prone to impulsive outbursts that he couldn't help but believe him. Brain carefully touched their noses together, bringing his hands to Pinky's cheeks and had to admit that he was very fond of this position. "I love you too, Pinky," he whispered.

"Naaaaaaarf!" Pinky beamed, blue eyes sparkling and his cheeks flushing lightly. He placed his hands over Brain's, hoping to keep them there. His heart swelled, he equated it to a big balloon that continually filled up with air, it felt so light and happy inside. "I hope my heart doesn't float away, Brain." He murmured dizzily, his heart was probably stealing all the air in his head. But he couldn't even manage to find it rude. Brain loved him too. Well, he figured as much, they were best friends... but he'd never _said _it. And certainly never like _that_.

That didn't even make sense, but neither did any of the other things Pinky usually said. Brain took it to mean something positive, considering his reaction, so gently rubbed his nose to Pinky's. "Since that's a physical impossibility, your heart's safely in your chest." And on his sleeve, though Brain didn't say the colloquialism aloud lest he confuse his cagemate... his partner. A light blush dusted his own cheeks.

He rather liked the idea of having a partner instead of just a dependent or lackey and the word _was_ a better description of what Pinky was to him. He always helped, always tried to cheer him up, was constantly just _there_. Yes, Pinky botched things, but he often wasn't alone in the botching and, well, some of The Brain's best ideas had been derived from Pinky's inanity. So partner it was.

His hands trailed down Brain's arms, then up until he could gently thumb his ears. Pinky rubbed his nose right back and closed his eyes. "You can have it if you want. Poit." The butterflies in his belly urged him forward, closer, but his foggy head only allowed him to sway a little. With his eyes closed, he misjudged, pressing his lips to the corner of Brain's mouth rather than directly on it. His brow creased minutely, opening his eyes halfway.

The way this touching affected his mind needed to be remembered and used as a deterrent for when they were in the midst of a plan. Trying to ponder like this was like trying to wade through heavy syrup. But The Brain was much too fuddled to do anything about it just at that moment. He let his lips ghost over Pinky's as he asked, "Have what? Have your...?" He blinked slowly, leaning back just so he could look clearly into those familiar blue eyes. "Oh... Oh, Pinky," he murmured. "I'd be honored. You can have mine."

"Brain..." Pinky opened his eyes wider, his smile growing as well. "Thank you, Brain!" His exclamation was soft, something telling him that it was best not to breach the quiet. "I'll treasure it for always!"

"I know you will, Pinky." Brain wrapped his arms around Pinky's neck, pressing himself closer. "There isn't another person in the entire world that I trust more than you," he admitted and, unlike Pinky, the kiss he gently pressed to the corner of his mouth was on purpose.

Pinky moved his arms to settle around Brain's waist, closing any of the remaining space between them. He tilted his head, allowing their lips to brush against each other. He pressed forward a little more, a needy sound coming from somewhere in his throat. It surprised him, his eyes widening further, that funny little noise. "_Narf_." He whispered against Brain's mouth, more familiar.

Brain held tightly and stayed close, but didn't resume the kiss. That little sound of Pinky's had nearly fizzled his mind completely, had sent a thrill down his spine, and had caused a flare of pure heat low in his gut. He needed to get his bearings back before he got them thrown clear off the _Carpathia_. "You don't know what comes next again, do you?" he whispered, little kisses peppering the question.

"There's _more_?" Pinky pulled back a little to stare at Brain in disbelief. The butterflies liked this idea. His tail started wagging against the blankets. "What comes next, Brain? _Troz!_" He'd only ever seen people kiss, and they'd done that already.

The disbelief had shifted to eagerness so quickly, The Brain almost wondered if he hadn't imagined the former emotion. "I can't show you right now, my innocent friend." He reached out behind Pinky, stroking a hand carefully along the wagging appendage. "It's a very private thing and we would need to be completely alone for an extended amount of time, but, yes, there is quite a bit more."

"Okay, Brain. So it's another later thingy?" Pinky clarified, squirming at the light touch to his tail. It took conscious effort, but he managed to slow it down some.

"Yes, and it's _private_," he repeated. "It isn't even something you should necessarily speak about to anyone else. Kissing is one thing, what follows is something else entirely."

Shaking his head, Pinky tried his best to reassure Brain. "I won't say anything! _Narf!_" He lowered his voice to a whisper, leaning closer. "It's like a secret, right? I love secrets!"

"Yes, I know. This is a... different sort of a secret. It's one everyone generally thinks they already kn-" He broke off, flushing red from the tips of his ears to the end of his tail. Jake's comments, his winks, the knowing look he often sent his and Pinky's way - it made sense now. He'd thought that he and Pinky were already- Oh. That was mortifying in retrospect, particularly since... That first night in a bunk bed? Honestly, was he insane? He would never dream of doing something so... so personal in a room with three others sleeping nearby. That reprobate.

Pinky blinked at Brain curiously, he'd gone all red and they weren't even doing anything anymore. He poked his tail, finding it amusing that it had also taken on the lovely shade. Muffling his giggle by keeping his mouth shut, he bumped his nose against Brain's. "You stopped talking again, Brain! What does everyone know? _Narf! _ And if they all know, I want to know too!"

Brain just gazed at Pinky for a long moment, the wheels of his mind turning as it readjusted to this new information. Everything that human had done for them, he'd done believing they were already romantically involved. He'd brought Pinky to that dinner so they could be together. He twined his arms around Pinky's neck once again, rubbing their noses together gently. That reprobate hadn't been so bad after all. "You'll know soon, Pinky."

Pleased that Brain was talking again, and hugging, Pinky wasn't so pleased with the answer. "Oh, but it's no fun when I don't get to know the secret!" he whined, more playful than anything. Brain had said later, and he could be patient. He waited a whole day for the first later! He could easily-! Wait... "How long did you say it would take to get home? Poit. Longer than a day?"

"Three to four days, Pinky. Possibly five." Brain patted his back, not wanting to unwrap his arms.

He couldn't count past two, but since those numbers weren't one or two, then it certainly would be longer than the first later. "Oh, this is going to take forever!" Pinky dropped his face to Brain's shoulder. "Please tell me, Brain! Puh-leeeeze! I don't think I can wait that long! _Zort!_"

"It isn't something I can _tell_ you, Pinky." Brain ran a finger along the curve of one of Pinky's ears. "I'll have to show you when we're alone."

Pinky turned his head and sighed into Brain's neck. "Okay... promise? As soon as we're alone?"

He shivered a little at the warm stream of air. "Yes, of course. As soon as we're alone, Pinky."

Satisified for now, Pinky lifted his head away from his friend's neck. "You cold, Brain?" He pulled away from Brain only long enough to bunch more of the blankets around them. Seeing the lumps and shapes in the bedding gave him an idea though. "Brain! Let's make a blanket castle! _Narf!_" He already started burrowing inside them, poking his head out a makeshift window to see if Brain would play too.

"A blanket castle," he repeated, nonplussed, but it was better than the mashed potato castle they'd made once. So he sighed and crawled under the blankets, whapping Pinky's nose with his tail in the process for getting him into this foolishness. "How on earth does one make a blanket castle?"

Pinky laughed when Brain's tail hit him, then started pushing up the blankets. "Well, it's just like making a bubble castle! Only with blankets!" He explained matter-of-fact-like. The ceiling started to cave in though. "Oh no, we'll have to find magic seaweed to make it stay up, Brain!"

After a little bit more molding, he got the blankets to stay still for the most part. "Poit. Sorry I don't have a crown for you here, Brain. But you can still be the king!" Pinky crawled over and tugged on his arm, pulling him into the little cavern he made.

"Of course I can be," he agreed, letting Pinky lead him in. It would be easy enough to be free of it when it all collapsed around them. "And you, dear friend, are second-in-command."

"Hooray! Oh, thank you, Brain!" he hugged him tightly, giggling when part of the blanket ceiling bopped him on the head. "When you take over the world, can I be second-in-salad then too? In our big bubble boat castle?"

"Second-in-_command_, Pinky, and of course you will be. I'd trust no one else to rule by my side. And we won't live in a bubble boat castle, but a real one if that's what you'd like." Brain had to admit a certain fondness for the idea, his lips twitching into a small smile. Not a pile of ruins, either, but an entirely new castle, right where the lab was. That way Pinky wouldn't have to acclimate to a new area. He'd hate having to put up with a new petition to keep riffraff out, however much he'd appreciated the end results when Pinky had succeeded.

"Naaaaaaarf." Pinky awed at the idea of a real castle. He let his head rest against Brain's. "Can it have a rainbow drawbridge? And a gummy bear hall? Oh! No, a slip-in-slide!" As he thought up more fun things to have in their castle, he felt his eyelids getting heavy. He opened his mouth to suggest something else, but yawned instead.

Brain was considering building two castles - one for all of Pinky's ridiculousness and one for actually receiving guests - when he heard the yawn. He looked up, mildly concerned. His Pinky was usually a veritable bundle of energy, but The Brain supposed he was still recuperating. "Come, Pinky, let's lie down. We can rebuild your blanket castle when you reawaken."

"But I'm not sleepy," he protested, though another yawn punctuated his sentence. "Can the chandelier be made out of doughnuts?" Pinky rubbed his eyes, but it didn't help keep them open, making him more receptive to Brain's suggestion. "And can we still share a bed in our big ol' castle?"

With a sigh, Brain nudged him down where they were and snuggled atop him. The few inches to the pillow weren't worth moving a sleepy Pinky. He ignored the first question and gently nuzzled into his neck. "It's customary for lovers to share a bed, Pinky, so yes."

Pinky wrapped his arms around Brain automatically, blue eyes already closed. His lips curved upward into a smile upon hearing Brain's answer. Giving him a quick squeeze, he hummed, "Love you, Brain..."

"Love you too," he mumbled after a pause, wondering if he'd have to say it every time now. He didn't object to the word, but he didn't see much point in announcing something that was already known on a regular basis. "Go to sleep now."

"Narf..." It didn't take long for him to fall asleep, though at first the fleeting memory of trying to stay awake in the cold kept him from it. But all he had to do was tighten his arms a little, feeling the warmth nestled there, and it blew away. They were warm and safe and together in their blanket castle, and everything would be okay.

Brain stayed awake a while longer, shifting to listen to Pinky's heart beating. A rainbow drawbridge, a gummy bear hall, a slip-n-slide, and a donut chandelier. He imagined he'd want the moat to be filled with... cherry soda. Maybe they could share a castle if he put all of Pinky's things in the back, but he'd worry about that when he actually had control of the world.

As he grew tired, though, he rubbed his cheek over Pinky's chest and curled his fingers into the dress, and ended up drifting off with a small blush on his cheeks since he'd just realized that he was looking forward to getting home so he and Pinky could indulge in what came next.

For now, however, he was merely thankful to have Pinky close by. They were both breathing, safe, and - most importantly - together.

* * *

><p>Skimmingsurfaces (who is cutcrescentheart on deviantART):<p>

Now only the epilogue remains!

Aw, I'm so sad this is the last chapter I get to put up for this fic, it was so much fun! But it turned out wonderfully, and thank you all for enjoying the journey and leaving such nice comments!


	18. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

The castle scheme had failed, but he supposed one couldn't change the weather (at least not until he was done with his current designs). The sudden torrential downpour had put a very serious kink in his ploy to entrap all the world's leaders in the largest bouncy castle ever created. They'd be entirely too busy playing around while he and Pinky _took over the world!_ But the rain had turned the funhouse into a slippery, catastrophic mess. It was a good thing he and Pinky didn't have insurance, being mice, or their rates would've gone through the roof when they'd been sued.

Luckily, being mice, they'd also been able to disappear before the finger-pointing could even begin, and Pinky had certainly made him feel better afterwards. He was a very... fast learner when it came to things of a physical nature. And in the week Brain had waited after arriving home before implementing the plan, there had been quite a bit of time for Pinky to learn.

The week had been a welcome reprieve, though, for both of them. It had settled them, giving them both time to take in the tragedy they'd survived, the tragedy so many hadn't. Pinky was almost entirely back to normal, though he sometimes asked about Miss Tulip (they hadn't seen her and it had taken a while for Brain to convince him that it was for the best) and sometimes Brain would be awakened by his frightened shivering...

Then again, sometimes Pinky was awakened by Brain's shivering. Nightmares couldn't be escaped and he imagined he'd be seeing men lifting lifeless, frozen bodies out of the water for a long, long time. He would just have to take over the world quickly so such a thing couldn't occur again. He'd take it over so he and Pinky could live in their castle and be safe and warm together forever.

Which brought him back to the current, frustrating plan. Brain sat back, rubbing his chin thoughtfully while Pinky kept himself entertained in the small-scale bouncy castle Brain had granted him. He really hadn't even needed to build a small-scale model of the larger one, but... he'd promised Pinky a castle and that had been the best he'd been able to do. He huffed, tapping the lead of his pencil against the unfinished blueprints. His machine was nearly completed, but he'd been struggling for the past fifteen minutes on just how they were going to be able to speed up the properties of precipitation once they had control of the clouds.

He gave a frustrated groan, rubbing his free hand against his brow, and glared at the unfinished plans. They only had a little bit of time before nightfall!

"Brain! _Narf!_ Oh, Brain, come bounce with me!" Pinky called out as he managed a fairly impressive air somersault, well until he bounced on his face in the landing. He giggled for quite some time though, clearly amused by his folly.

He'd probably bounce wrong on the rainbow-colored monstrosity and get his head stuck in the wall, he thought nastily, his frustration reaching its peak. "Not right now, Pinky! I'm trying to figure this out!" he snapped.

Although he kept bouncing, his ears drooped a little. "Oh, but Brain, you've been over there an awfully long time! Getting all grumpy-growly!" Pinky pulled his own impression of his friend's face, but it didn't last long, for soon he was laughing as he imagined it must've looked quite silly. "Just like that!"

Brain scowled, turning away from him to glare at the blueprints. He didn't have _time_ to play around like a hooligan. The plan. Always the plan, he thought and paused before just scribbling out the equations entirely. It's what he'd said to Pinky before dragging him into the depths of a sinking ship.

He set the pencil down carefully, deciding he could think about the plans while bouncing with Pinky as easily as he could sitting here getting frustrated over them. "Stop leaping about, then, so I can get in there," he ordered, striding across the counter.

"Hooray!" Pinky cheered, giving one last super bounce before landing in a sitting position and letting the bouncy castle settle. He crawled over to the opening on all fours and held a hand out to help Brain up.

"You'd better not let me get bounced right out of here," Brain muttered, not willing to let go of all of his irritation just yet. But he did grasp the other mouse's hand and let himself be pulled within.

Quite familiar with his brand of irritation, Pinky didn't let it dampen his excitement at having Brain bounce with him. Willingly. "Of course not, Brain!" Pinky declared, hugging him close once he was all the way inside the bounce house. "I won't let you fall! _Narf!_"

Some of the irritation melted just from the hug, but he stubbornly kept his scowl in place even when his fingers curled into his companion's warm fur. "Fine. Then... jump already," he muttered, heart flying into his throat when Pinky did just that. He hadn't realized he'd made this castle quite as bouncy as he actually had. How was he supposed to _think_ when he was being ricocheted about?

Pinky whooped as he bounced them about, though they were much tamer than the backflips and spins he'd been trying earlier. Holding onto Brain tightly, with one hand behind his head to keep it tucked close, he jumped against one side of the bouncy castle so they'd be propelled to the other. "Don't worry, Brain, I've got you!" He laughed, hopping up and down in the middle once they lost their momentum. "Isn't this fun-fun silly-willy?"

He couldn't breathe, air clogged by the heart beating rapidly in his throat, and gave a jerky motion of his head in response to the question that Pinky could take as whatever he liked. Why the world's leaders had been _enjoying_ this before the downpour was beyond him. Humans who were clearly as insane as Pinky had no business ruling unchecked.

He held Pinky a little tighter when the excited mouse jumped high enough to bump his head on the ceiling and fell back down, laughing all the way. Brain wondered in a desperate moment when his head would fly off from all the pressure caused by his lack of oxygen.

Wait. Pressure, oxygen... air pressure. Air pressure! "Yes! Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?" he asked excitedly. He had it!

"I think so, Brain! But won't we knock our noggins together if we try to kiss while bouncing?" Pinky wondered, glancing up for a moment before shrugging.

"Yes! Wait - no!" Brain grasped his shoulders, a familiar gleam in his pink eyes. "Stop bouncing, Pinky!"

Pinky blinked at him in confusion, but stopped his bouncing by landing on his back, letting Brain rest on his stomach. "So we won't knock our noggins? I don't know, Brain. Your head's terribly big, it might hurt a whole lot!"

Brain bopped him hard, bouncing the taller mouse's head against the rubbery floor before sitting up. "No, Pinky, air pressure! If I adjust one of the positioned valves, it'll be able to increase and decrease the air pressure as needed. It'll open up hurricane control!" And then he hauled Pinky up for a hard, deep kiss, scrambling out of the castle immediately afterwards, muttering calculations under his breath.

With little time to recover between the bop and the kiss, Pinky's head spun as he tried to wrap his mind around what just happened. "Naaaarf." Seemed to convey his feelings perfectly. Shaking his head, Pinky got to his feet and hopped out of the castle to follow The Brain. "Egad, Brain! Brilliant!"

* * *

><p>-744-3.<p>

The random numbers are a typo courtesy of my dog XD

They're shippers.

Anyway, that was our _Pinky and the Brain_ and _Titanic_ crossover!

What did you all think? XD

Ridiculously long, isn't it?

But it was SO MUCH FUN :heart:

I LOVE YOU SKIMMINGSURFACES

WE ARE ALL THE AWESOME!


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